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Miss Tinne Traveling. 



79^S /6 



THE 



Heroine of the White Iile; 



l^at a Momaax §itr attir ^ar^ir. 



A SKETCH OF THE REMARKABLE TRAVELS AND EXPERIENCES 
OF MISS ALEXANDRINE TINNE. 



By Prof. WILLIAM WELLS. 



TWO ILLUSTRATION 




^ New York : /'? ' ' 

CARLTON & LANAHAN. 

SAN FRANCISCO : E. THOMAS. 
CINCINNATI: HITCHCOCK & WALDEN. 

SUNDAY-SCHOOL DEPARTMENT. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 18V1, by 

CARLTON & LANAHAN, 

in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 






NOTE. 

♦ ■ 

THIS little work has been written with 
a view of supplying the now loudly 
expressed demand for a literature for our 
Sunday-schools that will be both instruct- 
ive and entertaining. Its truth is more 
thrilling than fiction, and its simple story 
stranger than romance. It is written 
mainly for our older Sunday-school chil- 
dren; but its pages may contain informa- 
tion and lessons that will not be without 
interest to any who may be inclined to 
know more of Africa, and of the strange 
career of a lady whose life was sacrificed 
to her intense desire to penetrate its wilds 
and its deserts, and be a herald of mercy 
to its persecuted and benighted people. 




Chapter 

I. "Why we call her a Heroine , 



Paob 



II. Her Birth and Early Life 16 

III. Her First Tisits to Africa 22 

IV. The First Great Expedition 32 

Y. The Expedition fairly under "Way 40 

YI. Holy Cross and Gondokoro 52 

YII. A Nest of Yillains 62 

YIII. Her Second Great Expedition T2 

IX. The Expedition in the Wilderness 82 

X. The Results of the Expedition. 9t 

XI. Her Return to Cairo 101 

XII. The Artist's Story 112 

XIII.' Four Tears of Longing 125 

XIY. Preparations for her Last Expedition 137 

XY. The Fatal Journey 146 



8 Contents. 



Chaptee Page 

XVI. The Wild Tribes of the Desert 157 

XYII. Over the Mountains to the Desert 167 

XVIII. Into the Desert and out again 181 

XIX. A GRAiiD Expedition 192 



JllM;slrali0Ji9 



Miss Tinne Traveling 2 

The Nile Boat 23 




THE 



HEROINE OF THE WHITE NILE. 



CHAPTER I. 

WHY WE CALL HEE A HEEOINE. 

THE story of Alexandeine Tes'ne 
(pronounced Tinnay) is full of ro- 
mance, courage, and self-sacrifice. She has 
done what many strong men feared to un- 
dertake, and all her remarkable labors 
seemed to be performed solely out of love 
to the cause that she espoused so early in 
life ; namely, that of exploring Africa, and 
carrying intelligence to the poor negro, 
and doing what lay in her power to abol- 



10 Heroine of the White Nile, 

ish that most terrible scourge of Africa, 
the internal slave-trade. 

No woman before Miss Tinne ever un- 
dertook this great task, and we have been 
accustomed to rank as heroes and martyrs 
the many noble men who have met their 
death in trying to penetrate the trackless 
deserts, slimy marshes, and dense forests 
of Africa. 

The only noble name on record that can 
be at all classed with Miss Tinne is that 
of Mrs, Baker, the devoted woman who 
followed her fearless husband in his dan- 
gerous journey to discover the sources of 
the River Nile, and proved by her fidelity 
to him in the hour of danger and suffering 
what strength a woman's love can impart 
to herself, and what protection and con- 
solation it can afford to man in the most 
trying hours of his existence. When Mr. 
Baker returned from his famous journey, 



Heroine of the White Nile. 1 1 

and related in such touching words what 
his wife had endured for his sake, how she 
had faced every danger with him as he 
pressed on, fearless of death, in his in- 
tense desire to reach the wonderful lake 
in the interior of Africa that he believed 
to be the great source of the Nile, the 
world applauded her. When he related 
with trembling voice how she had stood 
as a guardian angel at what they feared 
might be his death-bed, consoling him 
with her words of love, nursing him ten- 
derly, sweetening his solitude, and sup- 
porting for his sake the greatest trials in 
a distant land, surrounded by none who 
could sympathize with her, the world 
loved her, because she had performed a 
noble task under the most trying cir- 
cumstances. 

But Alexandrine Tinne had no one to 
tell her romantic story until she met her 



12 Heroine of the White Nile. 

tragic fate, and lier bones were bleaching 
on the sands of the desert. She, herself, 
gave no account of it to the world, and 
seemed indeed strangely to prefer that 
nothing should be told or written about it. 
It is said that she had a great dislike to 
the publication of any of her adventures, 
and performed her strange deeds either for 
self-gratification or the actual good that 
might come of them, but not that the 
world might listen or applaud. 

She was truly a pioneer in African dis- 
covery, for she penetrated regions that had 
never before been trodden by the foot of 
the white race, except perhaps by some 
of the unprincipled slave-dealers in search 
of victims. She was immensely rich, and 
expended her great fortune in these en- 
terprises, not so much in the cause of dis- 
covery or science, as in the desii-e to 
become acquainted with the unknown 



Heroine of the White Nile. 13 

regions of the country that she had actu- 
ally made her home. One of her journeys, 
however, was expressly made in the pur- 
suit of knowledge, and on this adventure 
she took with her two of the most scien- 
tific explorers of Germany at her own 
expense. But this single exploration of 
the endless marshes and sluggish water- 
courses to the west of the White Nile 
was sufficient of itself to give her an hon- 
orable name among the long list of African 
travelers who have lost their lives while 
facing the dangers of this fatal quarter of 
the globe. 

It is certainly something very strange 
that a young, rich, and beautiful woman, 
brought up in the most refined and aristo- 
cratic circles of Europe, could, by any pos- 
sible means, find a pleasure in pressing 
into the wild regions of the barbarous 
negroes of inner Africa, facing the dangers 



14 Heroine of the White Nile, 

of a terrible climate, risking the cruelties 
of savage men, and foregoing all the con- 
veniences and advantages of civilized life. 
We naturally ask the question. What was 
the motive? This we propose to discuss 
in another place. 

We here merely wish to say that Miss 
Tinne finally met with a sudden and cruel 
death irom those whom she was most be- 
friending. This occurred but a few months 
ago, and her special friends have simply 
had time to prepare her story for the 
world. She was a Holland lady, and 
therefore not at all known on this side 
of the ocean ; but we felt that the rich 
materials that have by chance come into 
our hands, would enable us to weave 
a plain unvarnished tale of truth, more 
attractive than many that are painted by 
fiction, and thus we give, to the youth of 
our Sunday-schools especially, this brief 



Heroine of the White Nile. 15 

account of the life and career of Alexan- 
drine Tinne. 

When they have finished it they will 
say with us, that she was the Heroine of 
Africa, or we shall feel that we have re- 
lated her wonderful history in vain. 




CHAPTER n. 

HER BIETH AJ^D EARLY LIFE. 

HOLLAND is one of the most interest- 
mg countries of Northern Europe, 
and especially so to the genuine New 
Yorker, because the city and the State 
was originally founded by the Holland 
Dutch, and we, descendants of the Knick- 
erbockers, as the early Dutch settlers have 
been called, always listen with interest to 
any story that comes from the land of our 
forefathers. 

The capital of Holland is called "The 
Hague," and is very pleasantly situated 
near the sea- shore, with which it is con- 
nected by a beautiful drive of six miles. 
The town is a charming residence, espe- 



Heroine of the White Nile. 17 

cially for the summer, and is noted for its 
churches, strange and quaint old buildings, 
and rich museums of modern art. The 
Hague is so pleasant a place of residence 
that many people of wealth go there to 
spend the summer, and to enjoy the re- 
fined and intelligent society of the artists 
and the Court; for it is here that the 
Koyal Family resides during a goodly por- 
tion of the year, giving life and refinement 
to society. 

The mother of Miss Tinne was a bar- 
oness, and also lady of honor to the Queen 
of Holland ; her family was distinguished 
for its age, and especially for the devotion 
to art of many of its members. This gave 
the Baroness an influential position in 
society, which was made more so by her 
connection with the Queen, and her own 
intelligence and refinement. Her hand 
was sought in marriage by a very wealthy 



1 8 Heroine of the White Nile. 

Englisli merchant, and she thus became 
Mrs. Tinne, and the mistress of a royal 
fortune. 

Alexandrine was born at the Hague in 
the year 1839. But her father died when 
she was but ^n% years old and therefore 
too young to have any distinct remem- 
brance of him. He left his infant daugh- 
ter the richest heiress in all Holland. The 
mother cared tenderly for her education, 
and she enjoyed every advantage that 
wealth and high position could secure. 
As soon as she was old enough she asso- 
ciated with all the coui^tly families, and 
became a special favorite of the Queen of 
Holland, who took a great interest in her 
training, and desired to make her an orna- 
ment of the royal circles. 

This Queen is said to be a most refined 
and intelligent lady, with more intellect 
and good sense than is usually possessed 



Heroine of the White Nile. 19 

by queens, and she perceived in Alexan- 
drine tlie material for making a noble and 
influential woman; this, with her love to 
the beautiful girl on her mother's account, 
induced the Queen to offer her access to 
all the Courts of Europe if she desired a 
royal career. But Miss Tinne seemed to 
have no love for fashionable and courtly 
society, and at a very early age developed 
a remarkable disposition for adventure. 
As a mere child she v^ould mount the 
wildest torses, and, like an amazon, guide 
and control them with the skill only pos- 
sessed by the experienced horseman. 

When but a girl in her earliest teens 
she began to show a spirit of adventure, 
and an ardent desire to see the world. 
This soon grew into a passion, that held 
her as with the strongest fetters, and, for- 
getting her youth and beauty, and her 
opportunity to shine as a brilliant lady at 



20 Heroine of the White Nile. 

the first Courts of Europe, she resolved to 
travel wherever she could see what was 
strange, and nev^', and wild. As the heir- 
ess of millions she was able to gratify this 
ruling passion, and she seems to have re- 
solved to do so the moment she was old 
and strong enough to endure the fatigue. 

But she anticipated no pleasure in what 
was tame and commonplace, and only 
panted after the wild and grand in nature. 
Thus her first great journey was to the 
North Cape, away up toward the frozen 
oceans, where she could revel in the 
romantic grandeur of the wild cliffs of 
Norway. This enterprise she carried out 
under the protection of a celebrated Nor- 
wegian artist, famous for his landscape 
paintings of the peculiar twilights of the 
long and brilliant northern nights. He 
relates many pleasing anecdotes of the ad- 
ventures of their journeyings in these high 



Heroine of the White Nile. 21 

northern regions, and of the bold enter- 
prises of his remarkable wai'd and pupil. 

She returned safe and sound to the 
Hague from this joui^ney, but by no means 
satisfied with adventure. Indeed, she had 
just begun to develop the passion, in all 
its strength, as she entered upon early 
womanhood, and left all her girlishness 
behind her. 





CHAPTEE III. 

HEE FIEST YISITS TO AFEICA. 

SHE had seen the wonders of the ex- 
treme North, and now turned her 
eyes to the distant South, because of the 
many romantic stories related by venture- 
some travelers returning from tropical 
lands. She induced her mother and aunt 
to accompany her on this visit, and their 
route lay through Italy to Constantinople 
and Smyrna, Palestine, and Cairo in 
Egypt. 

Indeed, some people say that Alexan- 
drine inherited her love of adventure from 
her mother, who, after the death of her 
husband, was quite willing to spend the 
large fortune which he had left her, in 




The Nile Boat 



Heroine of the White Nile. 25 

seeing the world. The daughter had there- 
fore little trouble in inducing the mother 
to accompany her in her new journeys, 
and the mother's sister, a favorite aunt, 
also joined the enterprising party of Dutch 
ladies. 

After many adventures they reached the 
famous old town of Cairo, which they had 
resolved to make their headquarters for 
various excursions into inner Egypt. Here 
they |)rocured a beautiful villa, and settled 
down with a view of making themselves 
at home for awhile. They were in the 
Valley of the Mle, and near the Pyramids, 
and these mysterious regions and strange 
scenes exerted a great influence on the 
character of Miss Tinne. As she heard 
the wild and romantic stories of returning 
adventurers from their endeavors to pene- 
trate the secret glades of Upper Egypt, 
and trace the Nile to its hidden source, her 



26 Heroine of the White Nile, 

energetic soul seemed to breathe in the in- 
spiration of being a sharer in these toils 
and struggles. In her love for Oriental 
customs she had adopted an Eastern style 
of dress, that well suited her tall figure 
and blonde complexion. She studied the 
language with great diligence, and sur- 
rounded herself almost exclusively with 
African servants, both male and female. 

Thus the ladies spent the first winter in 
the Orient, and the mild southern climate 
agreed so well with their health and their 
tastes that they left Cairo with regret to 
return to their home in Holland, for they 
feared to pass a summer in these regions, 
exposed to the danger of tropical fevers. 

But the pleasures of the Hague could 
not efface the memory of their Oriental 
home, and in two years they were again 
on their way to spend a second winter in 
Egypt. This repeated visit and sojourn 



Heroine of the White Nile. 2y 

there seemed to exert a still greater influ- 
ence than before on the im]3ressive nature 
of Miss Tinne. She was deeply affected 
by the rich and luxuriant nature that met 
her here at every step, and then resolved 
to spend her days in Africa. But even 
Cairo and Lower Egypt were too much 
under the influence of Europe, and in in- 
tercouise with it, to suit her romantic taste. 
She longed to go farther, and penetrate 
this my^sterious quarter of the globe to its 
depths. She, in company with her mother, 
and a sister of the latter, fitted out an ex- 
peditioQ to the Upper Nile, following in 
the footsteps of those exj^lorers who were 
laboring to unvail the secrets of the sources 
of this famous river. 

They extended their journey to within 
a rew degrees of the equator, and visited 
mmy of the wild regions that had scarcely 
ever known the presence of white men, to 



28 Heroine of the White Nile. 

say nothing of delicate and tender Eiiro- 
j)ean ladies. This tour made them famous 
for their astonishing endurance and the 
courage with which they met and over- 
came the difficulties that rose up against 
them, and which were enough to frighten 
strong men, and induce them to turn l)ack 
But Alexandrine Tinne knew no fear. She 
hraved all the fatigues and dangers of an 
African climate, and all the inconveniBnces 
and exposures which must meet a lady on 
such a journey, without being for a mo- 
ment turned from her determined purpose. 
They returned safely from this journey 
and again made their way to Holland, but 
not to stay there. The intense desire to 
know more of Africa had taken so strong 
a hold of Miss Tinne that she could not 
withstand it, and she remained only a sea- 
son at home to set her affairs in order foi 
a long absence. She now left the scenes 



Heroine of tJie White Nile. 29 

and Mends of her childhood, as ifc proved, 
for the last time, and, in company with 
mother and aunt, repaired to Cairo to 
spend another winter. This was in 1861, 
and she had performed all these wonders 
by the time she was twenty-two years of 
age. She was not yet eighteen when she 
made her first visit to the East. 

They had no sooner arrived in Egypt 
for the third time, when they abandoned 
the idea of settling down in Cairo, and 
began to look around for a fitting field 
for an interesting and useful exploration. 
About this time they made the acquaint- 
ance of a worthy German missionary who 
had traveled extensively in Eastern Africa, 
and had even seen the lofty snow-crowned, 
peaks under the very equator. He had 
been a Christian Missionary to the King 
of Schoa in Abyssinia, and had endeav- 
ored to extend Christianity into that dis- 



30 Heroine of the White Nile. 

tant region. At a later period lie had 
even held fnendly relations with the fa- 
mous King Theodore of Abyssinia. 

He told the ladies of the wild and 
romantic scenery in this beautiful land, 
which is known as the African Switzer- 
land, and painted to them all the beauties 
of its healthy climate. At that time every 
thing looked favorable and quiet, for King 
Theodore had succeeded in subduing and 
quieting many of the wild tribes around 
his realm. From Massua, on the Ked 
Sea, it would not be difficult to reach the 
highlands of this comitry, and then all 
dangers from the deadly climate of Africa 
would be passed. His advice to them was 
to undertake this journey into a region 
entirely new, and make the acquaintance 
of its victorious King, who was just then 
aspiring to be the Emperor of Eastern 
Africa, and the benefactor of his race. 



Heroine of the White Nile. 3 1 

Fortunately, circumstances prevented 
them from undertaking this enterprise, 
for, just at this period, King Theodore 
seemed intoxicated with power, and be- 
came, as some think, insane. He offered 
to marry Queen Victoria of England, and, 
when this good lady did not even deign to 
answer his letters, he became so enraged 
toward all Englishmen that he threw them 
into chains, and treated them with great 
cruelty, until the English Government sent 
an expedition into the country by way of 
the Eed Sea and totally annihilated him. 
The hatred of the black tyrant finally ex- 
tended to all foreigners, and had Miss 
Tinne penetrated his kingdom she might 
have been made a queen against her will. 



CHAPTEE IV. 

HER riEST GEEAT EXPEDITION. 

THE Heroine of Africa decided to make 
her first expedition to what is called 
the White Nile, which is the large western 
branch of this stream that joins the Blue 
Nile, or eastern branch, and there forms 
the great river of central and lower Egypt. 
This notorious region has been the death 
of many a noble explorer and missionary, 
for its fearfal morasses and endless swamps 
bear on their bosoms the seeds of the 
rankest poison. If the white man breathes 
this air it is almost certain death. 

The question has been often asked why 
the industrious and energetic emigrants of 
Europe, who have peopled America, and 



Heroine of the White Nile. 33 

have even wandered into distant Australia, 
and extended their dominion over a large 
part of Asia, have not settled along the 
rivers of Africa instead of simply visiting 
their shores as dealers in ivory and slaves. 
But this question is easily answered: 
These river banks are the grave-yards of " 
European explorers; all along these trop- 
ical strands lie bleaching the bones of thou- 
sands of white men who have rushed un- 
bidden into these inhospitable regions, and 
there met their death from the poison of 
the air or the cruelty of the inhabitants. 
These whitened skeletons seem to raise 
their warning fingers as if to bid the white 
man not to tread these shores, and yet 
they will go. The bold and fearless men 
who in the last ten years have laid down 
their lives in this rash undertaking would 
fill a long list ; for Englishmen, Germans, 
and Frenchmen have vied with each other 



34 Heroine of the White Nile. 

in their rasli endeavors to conquer this 
country for commerce and religion. 

But that a woman should lead an expe- 
dition into this deadly region was a new 
revelation to the world, and the dwellers 
on the banks of the Nile. She knew well 
that, wholly aside from the fearful dangers 
of the climate, the civil condition of the 
country was not at all assuring, for the 
continued annoyances and brutalities of the 
slave-hunters had set all the negro tribes 
in uproar, and there was a general war of 
all against all, which would make a visit to 
the region of the White Nile an extremely 
dangerous enterprise. 

This state of things, however, did not 
frighten these courageous ladies, and they 
accordingly made stupendous preparations 
for their journey. They took provisions 
to last them and their servants for a whole 
year, and no less than ten camel-loads of 



Heroine of the White Nile. 35 

copper coin or money — about four thousand 
dollars' worth — as this is about the only 
money that is of any value there, and this 
coin was said just then to be very scarce in 
Nubia and Soudan, to which countries 
they were going. On the 9 th of January, 
1862, they went aboard their three Mle 
boats, taking with them a large body of 
well-armed servants, who formed a sort of 
military escort. 

Their starting was auspicious. The north 
wind gently swelled their sails, and they 
passed slowly by all the grand ruins on 
the banks of the ancient river, and through 
the first cataracts or rapids to Korosco. 
Here they hired no less than one hundred 
camels to convey the large company through 
the Nubian desert to Abu-Hammed. The 
object of this long land journey is to cut 
off the great bend of the Nile, and shorten 
the journey by more than one half But 



36 Heroine of the White Nile. 

it is considered a very dangerous under- 
taking, and parties are always advised by 
the natives to follow the river, notwith- 
standing its great length. 

But the ladies determined to take the 
shortest route, bade good-bye to the life- 
giving river, and began for the lirst time 
their march with a caravan, for their party 
was so large that it formed a respectable 
caravan of itself. They were soon upon 
the yellow sands of the trackless desert, 
and only found their way by the bleach- 
ing bones of men and camels, and met no 
living thing but a few hungry and cawing 
crows, ready to snatch up any thing that 
the party might leave behind, and more 
than joyful should a poor camel fall by 
the way, and afford them a bountiful meal 
in picking the putrid flesh from its bones. 

This short route from ^o\t to jDort on 
the Nile, across the desert, is dangerous in 



Heroine of the White Nile. 37 

the most favorable season. A few years 
ago a wliole Egyptian regiment perished 
with thirst while crossing it, and the Gov- 
ernor of Egypt ordered this murderous 
passage to be abandoned ; but it so greatly 
shortens the journey around the great west- 
ern curve of the Nile that the temptation 
to take it is very great. But, fortunately, 
our adventurous ladies crossed it in safety, 
thanks to the large sup23ly of water borne 
by their camels. The Arabs of the cara- 
van burst out in thanks to Allah (God) 
when they saw that their dangers were 
passed, and discovered the granite cliffs of 
Abu-Hammed, with the lofty palms wav- 
ing their crowns in the wind, and the 
majestic Nile spreading out its broad flood 
to the weary travelers. 

They now continued their journey on 
the eastern bank of the stream, up as far 
as Khartoom, the capital of Egyptian Sou- 



38 Heroine of the White Nile. 

dan, at the confluence of the White and 
the Blue Nile. This is a very important 
post, and the head-quarters of the general 
Grovernor of all that region. This office 
was at that time filled by Musa Pasha, an 
unprincipled and cruel tyrant, who ruled 
only by military power, and oppressed and 
plundered the people. Miss Tinne was 
destined to have much trouble with this 
Prince, and at her first visit obtained such 
an insight into the Turkish rule of this 
land as to disgust her with all the opera- 
tions of this Governor. 

Although it was strictly forbidden by 
the chief power in Constantinople to car- 
ry on the horrible slave-trade, this ruler, 
as all his predecessors, di^ but little else, 
and thus amassed great wealth, and neg- 
lected his duties as Grovernor. He very 
soon saw that such an expedition as this 
would find out too much of his doings in 



Heroine of the White Nile. 39 

the interior of the country, and lie there- 
fore tried to place every possible impedi- 
ment in its way. Miss Tinne saw the 
object of his opposition to her expedition, 
and imbibed a deep antipathy to all such 
Turkish officials; she at the same time 
clearly perceived an opportunity to do 
great good to the African race, in endeav- 
oring to suppress this domestic slave-trade, 
and was delighted to have a new field for 
her efforts besides that of simple explora- 
tion. She conquered the opposition of 
the Pasha, and obtained the means and 
the privilege of continuing her journey 
from Prince Halim, brother of the present 
Viceroy. This Prince furnished her a 
steamboat, in which she and all her party 
continued their journey up the Mle in 
May, in order to pass the rainy and sickly 
season in a more healthy place than Khar- 
toom. 




CHAPTER V. 

THE EXPEDITIOTT FAIRLY UNDER WAY. 

LET US pause for a moment and con- 
sider the situation, as tlie soldiers 
say. Here is a young lady, but twenty- 
two years of age, organizing an extensive 
expedition like a military commander, gath- 
ering men and camels by the hundreds, 
and crossing the desert at a point so dan- 
gerous that the Governor had forbidden 
the undertaking. Then she meets and 
overcomes the opposition of the local Gov- 
ernor by appealing to a prince, and, by 
her boundless energy, succeeds in obtain- 
ing all the means for an extensive exjDlora- 
tion of that portion of the Nile that had 
been the greatest mystery and greatest 



Heroine of the White Nile. 41 

terror to all previous travelers. She is now 
leaving the last post of supplies in case of 
need, and also leaving behind her an enemy 
in the Governor, an unwelcome visitor to 
the scene of his cruelty and oppression. She 
is about 'entering the boundless wilderness, 
fall of dangers from men, and beasts, and 
poisonous air. She is determined to go, 
and we now declare her fairly under way. 
On leaving Khartoom, a new and in- 
teresting world was opened up to these 
European ladies. For a time all seemed 
very pleasant, and they sat leisurely and 
securely on the deck of their steamer en- 
joying the beautiful landscapes on the 
shores of the White Nile, and comparing 
them with the barren and sandy plains 
that had hitherto bordered the main river 
below. They soon entered the land of the 
Schillook negroes, where the shores are 
settled by a very numerous population, 



42 Heroine of the White Nile. 

and are bordered by palm-trees, mimosas, 
and acacias. In tMs luxuriant vegetation 
are numerous troops of lively, chattering 
monkeys, and swarms of beautiful tropical 
birds. 

One of these landscapes was so attract- 
ive that Miss Tinne gave orders to the 
steamer to land, and proposed stopping 
there for awhile, building cabins, and 
making themselves at home, with a view 
of examining the interior of the country. 
In the meantime the steamer was to leave 
them, to go down stream again after sup- 
plies. But no sooner did the servants of 
Miss Tinne see the steamer's prow turned 
away from them than they declared they 
would not stay there, on account of the 
savage beasts and the still more dangerous 
slave-hunters that were prowling about 
the vicinity, for nearly all her train were 
negroes that the heartless traders would 



Heroine of the White Nile. 43 

gladly seize and carry oif. The steamer 
was therefore quickly ordered back, when 
they hurried on board and pursued the 
voyage up the stream. 

The native negroes all greeted her with 
kindness, and thus far she met no enemies 
except the Arab slave-traders, who fre- 
quently approached her with propositions 
to share in a slave-hunt, that, with her 
forces and her steamer, they could make so 
profitable. She always rejected the over- 
tures of these wretches immediately, and 
they left her in anger, swearing revenge at 
her interference with their business. Along 
this part of the river there are Moham- 
medan settlements ruled by petty chiefs, 
whose main business is to hunt slaves, and 
send them in di^oves down the Nile to the 
slave-marts of Egypt. 

As we might naturally expect, the fame 
of this wonderful woman had preceded 



44 Heroine of the White Nile. 

her. The stories of her immense wealth 
had. been told again and again, and end- 
less were the accounts about her boats, her 
camels and caravan, and the triumphant 
journey that she was making up the Nile. 
And when she landed, her beauty and gen- 
tleness made her a great favorite; and, 
above all, when the poor negroes saw 
her prancing about like an amazon on a 
sprightly steed, they declared her to be 
the daughter of the great Grand Turk in 
Stamboul, (Constantinople.) This notion 
spread far and wide, over all the eastern 
and northern part of Africa. It was car- 
ried by the caravans into the distant oases 
of Sahara, and ever increased as it traveled 
onward. Some of the German explorers 
heard it in distant regions, where the 
foot of the white man had never before 
trod. 

She was the beautiful white daughter 



Herome of the White Nile. 45 

of the Siiltan of all tlie Sultans, the great 
ruler in Stamboul; and she was wander- 
ing all over Africa, dispensing her gifts 
with generous hands, and winning all 
hearts — coming to visit, as a Mend, the 
wide-extended regions of the Sultan's grand 
domain in Africa. 

This fame of the fairest daughter of the 
Turk struck with awe even the Moham- 
medan chiefs, and Mohammed-Cher, a 
mighty ruler and notorious slave-trader, 
who had his seat on this part of the Mle, 
hastened to do her honor, and receive her 
with royal pomp. He had imprisoned 
thousands of poor negroes in the terrible 
slave-yoke to drive them from their homes ; 
he knew no one above him whom he would 
call master ; he was the terror of the White 
Nile, and the negroes trembled at his 
name ; yet even he bowed before the beau- 
tiful King's daughter from distant Stam- 



46 Heroine of the White Nile. 

boul, and offered her the sovereignty of 
Soudan. 

And as she was revered by these slave- 
hunters, whose savage bands often over- 
whelmed in the quiet of the night the 
villages of the blacks, shooting down men 
like the beasts of the forest, carrying away 
woman and children into captivity, and 
burning whole villages, so did the ignorant 
negroes with strange astonishment stand 
before the dazzlingly white lady, and wor- 
ship her as of royal birth. Every pale- 
face that had hitherto visited the shores 
of the White Nile had been that of a 
slave-deale]', the very scum of the Greeks, 
Italians, and Orientals, who have their 
head-quarters in Khartoom; but here, on 
the contrary, was the face of a white lady 
who came to them with loving heart, and 
full and generous hands. The fame of this 
goodness, which had fortunately preceded 



Heroine of the White Nile. 47 

her, aided her very much in her intercourse 
with the natives, and protected her from 
any violence on the part of Shillooks, 
whom the outrages of the slave-hunters 
had embittered against all the pale-faces. 
Once, when it was necessary for her steam- 
er to land at one of their villages to obtain 
wood, the crew were so much afraid of the 
negroes that they refused to go ashore, but 
Miss Tinne took ten soldiers and landed 
fearlessly. She was kindly received as the 
Sultan's daughter, and the throne of the 
land was even offered to her if she would 
aid them in driving out their arch-enemy, 
Mohammed- Cher. 

Alexandrine Tinne had, however, no de- 
sire to become a queen, and therefore all 
these enticing offers could not induce her 
to remain among these Shillooks. Her 
great wish just now was to explore some 
of the unknown streams that flow into this 



48 Heroine of the White Nile. 

portion of the White Nile, and help to 
swell its current. The first that she en- 
countered on her journey south was the 
Lobat, which is not even yet well under- 
stood, and whose character and course 
were a subject of much controversy. An 
Englishman named Petherick had ascended 
it, and declared it to be navigable for some 
considerable distance, and, relying on this 
assertion. Miss Tinne ordered her steamer's 
prow to be directed into this stream. But 
she was soon obliged to return, as the 
waters were too shallow for the vessel, 
which ever and anon ran aground. This 
excursion occupied ten days, and yielded 
no valuable results. 

The next point of interest was Lake No, 
where the Gazelle River flows into the 
White Nile from the west. This is called 
a lake, but it is little more than a great 
marshy basin, in which many travelers 



Heroine of the White Nile. 49 

have hopelessly wandered and lost them- 
selves. Stagnant rivers surround it, and 
with deceptive outlets and false channels, 
mislead the explorer, and wear out the 
energies of the body and the patience of 
the soul. Many years ago a large expedi- 
tion from Egypt sought in vain a way 
out of this lake ; they found it a puzzling 
labyrinth. 

The impression which this notorious and 
marshy waste left on the minds of these 
ladies was, therefore, by no means a pleas- 
ant one. x\s far as their eyes could see, 
they perceived nothing but an endless 
marsh, on whose slimy, stagnant waters 
there occasionally appeared the dead trunk 
of a fallen tree. The massive water-plants 
and floating wood formed great moving 
islands, slowly sailing about in the lazy 
waters, almost without a direction and a 
purpose. Hippopotami were plunging and 



50 Heroine of the White Nile, 

snorting among the reeds, crocodiles were ly- 
ing quietly round ready to seize their prey, 
and great water-birds were standing as im- 
moveable as statues ; while in the marshy 
air millions of mosquitoes were humming, 
and buzzing, and stinging. 

This you will certainly say is no very 
attractive spot for delicate European ladies, 
brought up to indulge in all the luxuries 
of life, and unaccustomed to hardship of 
any kind. And we say the same thing, 
although their steamer was provided with 
every thing to make them comfortable 
while they were on it. But such a repul- 
sive landscape, and such a long and tortu- 
ous journey to get through this lake into 
the river beyond, will certainly discourage 
them, and make them turn back. 

But Alexandrine Tinne was born to be 
a commander, and never hesitated in the 
presence of difficulties. Indeed the more 



Heroine of the White Nile. 5 1 

of these the better, seemed to be her doc- 
trine. And the wilder and more dismal 
the country, and the more distant from 
civilization, the better she seemed to enjoy 
it. Here, in the morasses along the shores 
of the White Nile, that are more danger- 
ous than the burning sands of the desert, 
was to be found the true test of her char- 
acter. Here was the spot where w^as to 
be decided the question whether she was 
equal to the task she had undertaken or 
had mistaken her vocation. She stood the 
test. She had resolved to reach Gondo- 
koro, a famous station far up the stream, 
and though she saw that it would require 
weeks of such trials and contests with 
nature to reach her aim, she neverthe- 
less stood firm and issued the command, 
'"'•FoTwo/rdP'^ 



CHAPTEH VI. 

HOLY CEOSS ANB GOISDOKOEO. 

THE expedition now passed through 
Lake No again into the White Mle, 
and ascended its waters slowly to a famous 
missionary station founded by the Austri- 
ans, and known as Holy Cross. They in- 
tended to make quite a stay here, but they 
found nothing but a scene of decay and 
death. A few years ago a Dominican 
monk, with a few associates, resolved to 
found a Mission here, in the endeavor to 
convert to Christianity the wild negro 
tribes living along these shores. Their 
efforts were all in vain, The first great 
difficulty for the white man is the climate, 
and this seems almost insurmountable. 



Heroine of the White Nile. 53 

Miss Tinne found not tlie Mission but 
the graves. Of sixty clergymen and lay- 
assistants that the Missionary Society had 
sent to that place, nearly all lay buried 
in its soil; and the numerous mounds of 
freshly made graves that every-where arose 
here spoke loudly of the dangers of Africa. 
There is a saying that the European 
cannot wander with impunity among the 
palm-trees, and these graves seemed to at- 
test its truth. These deeds of death left a 
deep impression on the mind of our heroine, 
but did not discourage her. 

Though this Mission was animated by 
the best spirit, it could not maintain itself, 
and no longer exists. It had two settle- 
ments with a view of scattering among the 
people the seeds of religion and civiliza- 
tion. The Negroes were in the habit of 
going nearly or quite naked; the mission- 
aries gave them pantaloons, and tried to 
■ 4 ^ ■ 



54 Heroine of the White Nile. 

teach them how to wear them. But it 
was all iu vain; they would put them on 
their arms, and then on their heads as a 
head-dress, with the legs hanging down 
their backs. 

In Grondokoro, the seat of another Mis- 
sion, they had built a little church in which 
was a bell to call the natives to service. 
But the wild Negroes would take the 
church by storm, and day and night ring 
the bell, and shriek and shout, and plunge 
and whirl, like a band of crazy monkeys. 
The j)ious men could do nothing with 
them, and were obliged to leave their set- 
tlements, which are now in ruins. 

It is almost impossible to discover any 
ideas of a God, or what is called natural 
religion, in these poor creatures. They 
believe in nothing but wizards and evil 
spirits, who make rain or sunshine, and 
cause disease and death. They seem like 



Herohie of the White Nile. 55 

crafty, overgrown children, ready to receive 
any and every impression, and change it 
the next moment. It is almost impossible 
for them to fix their attention for any time 
on a single object, and they have not the 
least power of reasoning. 

Some of the tribes in that vicinity seem 
to have notions like the Brahmins, and 
adopt animals as gods — the cow especially. 
They think that every thing about the 
cow is sacred, and nothing unclean. They 
take the greatest care of the cow, and will 
let no indignity befall it. A story is told 
of a proud woman of one of these tribes, 
who was so powerful that she never went 
out without an escort of warriors, but 
would always seek an opportunity to lie 
in cow's filth, and regarded it as a sacred 
and healing ointment. It is not to be 
wondered at that many good people have 
despaired of ever being able to do good 



56 Heroine of the White Nile. 

among these people, with their natural 
degradation and their climate. Some of 
the tribes visited by Miss Tinne, on excur- 
sions made into the interior from Holy 
Cross, were found to be totally destitute 
of clothing. They seem to be poor miser- 
able beings that herd together on the few 
dry spots that these great marshes afford, 
and live on bats, snakes, termites, or great 
w^hite ants, and any other vermin that they 
can obtain. Their only protection against 
the weather is a covering of ashes. 

Having satisfied herself with excursions 
and investigations around the Mission of 
Holy Cross, Miss Tinne now turned her 
steamer's prow toward Gondokoro, an im- 
portant station on the White Nile, scarcely 
^N% degrees from the equator. Her arrival 
there caused great surprise, from the fact 
that it was a most unusual season for 
strangers to come, as the boats of Euro- 



Heroine of the White Nile. 57 

peans seldom arrive there before January 
on account of the climate, which makes an 
earlier visit dangerous. This place is now 
largely visited by traders in ivory and 
slaves, and has become an important sta- 
tion for fitting out exploring expeditions 
to the head-waters of the river. It was 
then but rarely visited by strangers, and 
had never before been favored with the 
presence of so many European ladies. 

It was, besides, an unfortunate time for 
their visit. A celebrated Maltese traveler 
and slave-trader, a man detested for his 
slave-hunting and cruelty, had just been 
committing great depredations along the 
river, and exasperating the negroes by his 
inhumanity. They were so enraged that 
they hid whenever they saw Europeans 
coming, and from their ambush sought to 
shoot down, with poisoned arrows, every 
stranger that entered their territory. For 



58 Heroine of the White Nile. 

this reason no excursions could be made 
into tlie interior from Gondokoro. All 
that Miss Tinue could do was to make a 
little trip to a neighboring mountain, which 
she desired to ascend on account of the 
beautiful prospect to be enjoyed from its 
summit. This she accomplished, and then 
continued her journey up the Mle. But 
even this she could not prosecute farther 
than about twenty miles, on account of 
cataracts in the river, and great blocks of 
stones and rocks, which made all farther 

* navigation impossible. 

And the health of the ladies, which had 
remained good until this time, now began 
to suffer, and warned them of their danger. 
They were all attacked with the fatal fever 

* of the region, and it was thought safest to 
return again to Khartoom. Altogether 
they had traveled about seventeen hundred 
miles, and, on calculating the expense of 



Heroine of the White Nile. 59 

the lotirney after their return to Khar- 
toom, they found they had spent no less 
than thirty thousand dollars. From this 
fact we can form some idea of the money 
required for African expeditions, and of 
the vast fortune of this lady. But even 
this great journey was only the forerunner 
of much greater ones, that followed each 
other in unbroken succession for about 
seven years. 

Miss Tinne simply returned to Khar- 
toom to rest awhile, regain her health, and 
prepare for new deeds. A great many 
celebrated travelers were then working at 
the problem of the Upper Nile, and this 
fixed her ambition to rival them. Grant 
and Speke were understood to be return- 
ing from their very famous expedition, and 
Mr. Baker was just then ascending the 
river with a large company to meet them. 
As Miss Tinne was returning to Khartoom 



6o Heroine of the White Nile. 

she met the brave Englishman sailing up 
the river, and in the book which he 
afterward wrote he alludes to the Dutch 
ladies and the charming Miss Tinne, whom 
he greeted with cannon, which attention 
they returned by waving their handker- 
chiefs as long as they could see the ves- 
sels. Baker remarks that he then little 
thought that he would never meet these 
friendly forms again, and that so fear- 
ful a fate would overwhelm the whole 
company. 

He is still the fearless exjDlorer, and is 
just now engaged w^ith a large force in 
penetrating the secrets of these wonder- 
ful regions, and endeavoring to introduce 
civilization and commerce among these 
poor, ignorant, and tortured people. His 
boldness may yet be his ruin, and a 
tragic fate may easily overtake him, as 
two of these ladies now lie buried in the 



Heroine of the White Nile. 6i 

swamps of the White Mle, and the lead- 
ing spirit of them all has found an inhos- 
pitable grave among the sands of the 
desert. For the present we will follow 
them to Khartoom. 




CHAPTEE VII. 

A NEST OF VILLAIIifS. 

IT is well sometimes to call things by 
tlieir right names, and this we judge 
to be the right name for Khartoom. This 
town is a sort of retreat and storehouse 
for the travelers and traders of the Upper 
JSTile. It lies right on the point of the 
Delta, or triangle, formed by the meeting 
of the White and the Blue Nile, as they 
join to create the one grand river. It was 
founded, or, at least, very greatly enlarged, 
by the celebrated Egyptian ruler, Mehemed 
Ali, at a period when he feared that the 
Turkish Sultan might deprive him of 
Egypt and Nubia. His intention was, in 
that case, to make Khartoom the capital 



Heroine of the White Nile. 63 

of Soudan, and extend it into an immense 
realm. 

This town is considered tlie Gomorrah 
of the Upper Nile, and is every way 
worthy of the same punishment that over- 
took that wicked city of old. It is so far 
from the seat of central authority in Cairo 
that it must be ruled by subordinate offi- 
cials, and most of these are either morally 
very degraded, or are ever ready to be 
bought with a price for any wickedness 
that will pay. The city, therefore, contains 
within its walls a population of villains; 
this, at least, is the deliberate judgment of 
the celebrated French explorer Lejean, to 
whom we are indebted for the information 
of this chapter ; and he had the experience 
of a long sojourn within its walls. 

Under the pretense of dealing in ivory, 
these traders carry on the slave-trade, and 
even engage in cruel slave-hunts. They 



64 Heroine of the White Nile. 

fit out little warlike bands, plunder tbe 
homes, devastate the land, and carry off 
tlie women and children, if they cannot 
catch the men alive; they make a perfect 
business of hunting and dealing in human 
flesh. 

Nearly all Europe has protested against 
this domestic slave-trade, as it is called, 
but it seems that nothing will bring the 
Turks to reason but the force of arms. 
The Egyptian government affirms that 
there is no slave-trade carried on in that 
region, and does not know what other 
governments mean by making such a com- 
plaint; and yet it remains a party to the 
infamous business, and draws a profit from 
it, for the very ai^my of Egypt is recruited 
by these negro hunts. 

Any one who in Khartoom has money 
enough to hire a couple of boats, and fit 
out sixty or seventy thieves and cut-throats 



Heroine of the White Nile. 65 

witli weapons, tries his luck in an expedi- 
tion Tip the Nile. They go up the river as 
far as possible, land near a village at night, 
set lire to it, cut down all that ojffer any 
resistance, and seize and bind in chains any 
human being that they can find. Then 
this load of human flesh is transported to 
some place well enough known to the 
officers of the viceroy, but who remain in 
ignorance in view of a large bribe which 
they receive to induce them not to inter- 
fere. It is said that even the government 
barracks have been used as places of 
imprisonment for these poor unfortunate 
wretches. 

But we are sorry to say that it is not 
merely Egyptians and Turks that carry 
on this vile trade. These persons can hide 
themselves behind their Koran, or Bible, 
which says : You can keep as many slaves 
as your right hand can acquire. No ! the 



66 Heroine of the White Nile. 

worst and most ciniel slave-dealers are the 
Europeans. They combine savage cruelty 
with the basest and wildest excesses, and 
remind one of the outrages of the Spaniards 
in their conquest of America. Lejean 
makes some few exceptions among the 
European merchants of Khartoom, but 
brands the most of them as lost to every 
sentiment of manly honor. Greeks, Ital- 
ians, Spaniards, Portuguese, and others 
find their whole business in the negro race, 
and he who possesses slaves is said to have 
capital. In one instance, a former secretary 
of a foreign legation distinguished him- 
self for unheard-of cunning and cruelty; 
but he, fortunately for the negroes whom 
he abused, came to an early death from 
excessive drunkenness. An Austrian then 
bought out his slave-pen, and continued 
the criminal business, while he was at the 
same time writing to Europe about the 



Heroine of the White Nile. 6/ 

cruelty of the slave liunts, and Ms efforts 
to put a stop to them. 

With the highest impudence these vil- 
lains will sail up the river displaying the 
English, French, Austrian, Turkish, and 
even the American flag. And wherever 
they leave or found a station as a place of 
resort, they make it a perfect nest of vice 
in a little time. Men, women, and chil- 
dren are turned into a crowd of vile drunk- 
en beasts, and are used as decoys to bring 
negroes to their station, that white men 
may steal them. In this way Gondokoro 
has become a shameless center of vice, and 
the negro race far and near is becoming 
greatly degraded. Many think that these 
wicked wretches do the negroes more harm 
in teaching them base wickedness than in 
burning their villages and killing them, or 
carrying them off into slavery. 

These miserable men pretend to argue 



6S Heroine of the White Nile. 

that they are doicg the blacks a favor in 
taking them from their home, and bringing 
them into contact with ci\dlization. Thus 
these cruelties are allowable in the eyes of 
the Mohammedan because these negroes 
may in this way be made followers of 
Mohammed. Just as some Christians have 
been base enough to argue in favor of the 
slave-trade because it brings the negroes 
into a land of Christianity. But the poor 
negroes have not much faith in such Chris- 
tianSj and the result is that the few mis- 
sionaries who have the courage to endeavor 
to approach them find all their labor to 
be in vain. They naturally say : You are a 
white man, you are a kidnapper of women 
and children ; begone ! we have no faith 
in you ! we curse you ! 

From Khartoom these slaves are mostly 
sent to Massua, on the Red Sea, and then 
across to Jidda in Arabia. An Italian 



Heroine of the White Nile. 69 

gentleman from Bologna, who was for a 

long time Englisli vice-consul at this port, 

fought for awhile with the determination 

of a brave man against this slave-trading. 

He would sometimes attack the caravans 

in person, and liberate the imprisoned 

negroes. He tried to induce the English 

consul in Aden, in Arabia, to join him in 

this opposition to the slavers, but this 

of&cer thought it iDJudicious to interfere 

with slavery carried on under the Turkish 

flag. This simple fact shows how little 

even English officers in these ports are to 

be relied on, and, of course, there is not 

the least confidence to be placed in the 

Egyptian and Turkish officers. If they do 

not carry on the trade openly on their own 

account they do it secretly, or they suffer 

it in view of the money which they receive 

as a bribe from the traders. An office 

with a salary of a thousand dollars per 
5 



70 Heroine of the White Nile. 

anntim may in this way be made to yield 
at least ten thousand. 

Lejean calculates that from 1852 to 1862 
the White Nile gave about six thousand 
slaves annually, and that in each of the 
following two years the number rose to 
fifteen thousand. In this way it happens 
that Africa is, of course, closed to honest 
merchants, and they are deprived of a 
market that might be very profitable for 
them. The time has, we hope, now ar- 
rived when a stop will be put to this in- 
famous trade. The opening of the Suez 
Canal from the Mediterranean to the Red 
Sea will bring all the borders of this latter 
body of water into close communication 
with all the civilized countries of Europe. 
These will probably very soon have their 
fleets cruising in these regions for the pro- 
tection of their owm commerce, and En- 
gland, France, Austria, and Italy, can 



Heroine of the White Nile. 71 

scarcely consent to tlie continuance of a 
traffic wMch is a disgrace to humanity. 
These vessels of war will watch the consuls 
of their respective nations in the various 
ports, and not hesitate to punish any of 
their own subjects engaged in this vile 
occupation, which has done more toward 
shutting out Africa from civilization than 
the savage character of its people or the 
inhospitable character of its deserts and 
marshes. 




CHAPTER VIII. 

HEE SECOIS^D GEEAT EXPEDITION. 

BUT Alexandrine Tinne did not go to 
Khartoom to rest. There were no 
great attractions for her there among these 
villains, whose crimes she had become well 
acquainted with by experience, whose vices 
she had seen with her own eyes, and whose 
wickedness she was determined to thwart 
by all the means in her power. 

She sought Khartoom simply as a post 
from which to fit out a second and still 
greater expedition. The partial failure of 
her first one had taught her many lessons 
by which she hoped to profit, and had 
shown her how much might be done to 
alleviate the sad condition of the poor 



Heroine of the White Nile. 73 

negroes. But, above all, the exceeding in- 
terest then being manifested by English, 
German, and French explorers seemed to 
fire up her spirit to new deeds. She de- 
termined to have a share in the discoveries 
hoped for in the vast regions west of the 
White Nile, along the borders of the Ga- 
zelle Eiver, and in the land of the M^m- 
Nams. 

This almost totally unexplored country 
was then the great object of interest, and 
the strangest stories concerning it were 
told in Khartoom. Some declared the in- 
habitants to be a race of men with tails, 
and cannibals in the bargain — eating each 
other with a relish. Others related most 
remarkable things concerning the large and 
numerous rivers that cross and recross each 
other, and have never been explored. And 
still others affirmed the existence of immense 
lakes, which was just what all explorers 



74 Heroine of the White Nile. 

thouglit to be the true sources of tlie Nile, 
But these were all the loose and unreliable 
stories of the ivory-dealers, who cared little 
about the real truth so that they could 
relate marvelous adventures. 

Miss Tinne began to feel an ardent de- 
sire to do something toward advancing the 
condition of accurate geographical knowl- 
edge of Africa. Her first great expedition 
had partaken somewhat of the character 
of a grand pleasure excursion, but she now 
began to feel that the great outlay and 
exertions that she was making ought to 
bring positive usefulness to the world. 
And to this she just now found a most 
favorable opportunity. 

Two devoted and enthusiastic travelers, 
Heuglin and Steudner, had just returned, 
worn out and poor, from a very extensive 
and remarkable tour through x\byssinia, 
to its King, Theodore, and were then in 



Heroine of the White Nile. 75 

Khartoom without means or hopes of doing 
any thing more. They had ardently desired 
to press forward into Waday, to learn, if 
possible, something of the fate of their cele- 
brated countryman, Edward Vogel, who 
had not been heard from for a long time. 
But another explorer, who had just been 
traveling through Kordofan, proved to 
them that this was an impossibility. They 
were now without an object, and quite un- 
willing to leave the scene of so many trials 
and labors without having accomplished 
some more positive results. 

In this condition Miss Tinne found them, 
and they being Germans and she from 
Holland, they felt almost like fellow-coun- 
trymen. She saw they were men of great 
determination and accurate scientific cul- 
ture, and offered them honorable positions 
in her expedition, which they gladly ac- 
cepted. Dr. Steudner was a celebrated 



76 Heroine of the White Nile. 

botanist, and became at once the private 
physician of Miss Tinne and the overseer 
of the general health of the expedition. 
Heuglin w^as a renowned ornithologist, 
and knew all about the birds of Africa 
better than he understood the men. With 
such additions the expedition became a 
scientific one, and had a definite object. 
And besides these gentlemen there also 
joined them a Baron from Holland, a rela- 
tive of the ladies, who had been living for 
some time in Soudan, and hunting African 
beasts in company with a Prince of Co- 
burg. This became, therefore, a very cele- 
brated expedition, and some of the results 
of it have been published in a work en- 
titled, "Heuglin's Journey to the Kegion 
of the White Nile." 

It was arranged that Heuglin and Steud- 
ner should precede the rest of the company 
awhile, and sail up the Nile as far as a 



Heroine of the White Nile. yy 

well-known station, called Meshra, there 
to await the ladies, and learn all they could 
as to the means of penetrating the high- 
lands of the south-western sources of the 
river, in the land of the Mam-Nams. This 
Meshra — the word means an anchorage or 
stopping-place — plays a very important 
part in the commercial history of the Nile. 
It is only a naiTow marshy pool, south 
of the Gazelle Eiver, with which it is 
connected. 

This is the station to which the ivory- 
dealers of Khartoom resort to take in their 
cargoes, and it is sometimes filled with 
their boats. The ivory itself is brought 
thither from the settlements of the interior. 
The climate there is extremely unhealthy, 
and the whole region quite as swampy and 
forbidding as that alluded to in speaking 
of the White Nile. 

Heuglin sailed through Lake No to the 



yS Heroine of the White Nile. 

Gazelle River, and reached Meshra after a 
journey of twenty days. Heuglin was a 
mighty hunter, and his passion led him to 
make a study of all the birds in that part 
of Africa that he visited. Therefore, while 
on this journey, as on all others, he was 
ever shooting birds, studying their nature, 
habits, and j)lumage, and preserving and 
taking with him as many specimens as he 
could transport. 

His connection with Miss Tinne's ex- 
pedition gave him a fine opportunity to 
indulge his taste, and extend his studies. 
The beautiful birds of Africa are much in- 
debted to him for an introduction to the 
scientific world. And after many jour- 
neys and a twelve years' sojourn in Africa 
he returned to his native Germany, and is 
now publishing the story of the birds 
of ISTorth-eastern Africa. This work is a 
monument of German diligence and learn- 



Heroine of the White Nile, 79 

ing, and Ms countrymen are very proud 
of it and of him. It shows that his labors 
were inspired by love of knowledge, and 
sustained by an unbounded enthusiasm. 

He has proved himself perfectly at home 
in the bird- world, which is one of the most 
attractive fields of natural history, and 
especially in that portion of it which is 
most beautifal, and at the same time the 
least known to the world and scientific 
men, namely, the birds of Africa. And he 
has not only described them with great 
skill and clearness, but his cunning with 
the pencil and the brush has enabled him 
to take their portraits so accurately that 
you woidd almost think that living birds 
must fly up from the life-like pictures of 
his book. He expects to devote years yet 
to this monument of his life and labors in 
Africa, and it will doubtless live an honor 
to him when he is in the tomb. 



8o ■ Heroine of the White Nile, 

But such monuments are not built with- 
out a great deal of trying labor and hard- 
ship, and he says of this very journey that 
for miles and miles he wonld only find a 
few square rods of dry land, and even these 
were ant-hills built around the trunks of 
fallen trees. Daily he would wander for 
miles, wading in mire and water from one 
to three feet deep, sometimes sinking away 
down in the numerous elephant tracks. 
At times he would come into regions 
where the grass was so high as to be above 
his head and prevent him from seeing any 
thing around, while there was at the same 
time an entire absence of trees. The only 
way, then, in which he could find out 
where he was, and what direction he ought 
to take, was to ascend the ant-hills, which 
are there sometimes as large as a negro 
cabin. 

Hundreds and hundreds of elephants 



Heroine of the White Nile. 8i 

were roaming joyously tLrough the swamps, 
at times raising their trunks and uttering 
loud cries, and then .with theii' large fan- 
shaped ears driving away swarms of flies. 
Some of them were followed by large 
numbers of herons, the great wading bird 
of the African swamps ; these birds would 
sometimes light on them and fairly cov^er 
them. Every now and then a great hippo- 
potamus would go grunting through the 
reeds, and then, with a mighty plunge, 
throw himself into the neighboring river. 
Herds of buffaloes were grazing on every 
little solid spot, and especially in the 
vicinity of the ant-hills, which they re- 
semble in color; occasionally an antelope, 
or a pair of them, would pass by with their 
mighty antlers, or ascend a lofty ant-hill, 
and from its summit proudly gaze over 
their territory. 



CHAPTEE IX. 

THE EXPEDITIOIS" HN^ THE WILDEENESS. 

THE main body of the expedition was 
now approaching this wilderness. Miss 
Tinne and her mother had left Khartoom 
with an immense train of followers and 
baggage; the aunt had remained behind. 
There were two European maids and an 
Italian interpreter on the steamer, as spe- 
cial servants to the heroine of the journey. 
For the baggage and the ordinary men 
and servants they had hired two passen- 
ger and two freight boats. On these were 
two hundred persons, thirty mules and 
donkeys, four camels. Miss Tinne's riding- 
horse, and ammunition and provisions for 
ten months. 



Herome of the White Nile. 83 

But tMs great number of servants and 
soldiers, and this mass of baggage and 
ornaments and utensils of all kinds, proved 
to be a fatal mistake ; so heavy were some 
of the lighter things that the glass beads 
weighed no less than three thousand 
pounds, and there were about twelve thou- 
sand ornamental shells; these are greatly 
prized by the negroes as ornaments for 
their persons, and will go farther than 
money in buying food and favors. , On 
many occasions it proved almost impossible 
to move the ponderous train containing all 
these things; and this difficulty would 
sometimes bring the expedition to a dead 
halt, and very frequently added to the 
troubles of the enterprise. The whole 
affair looked very grand, however, on leav- 
ing Khartoom ; and the stately expedition 
set sail amid the firing of cannon and the 
waving of handkerchiefs. But, alas ! how 



84 Heroine of the White Nile. 

little they then thought that of all this 
troop so few would ever return. 

After many troubles and hinderances, 
this fleet, with its heroic leader, landed 
safely in Meshra. As it entered the port 
it formed one of the most brilliant spec- 
tacles of the kind that had ever been seen 
in the interior of Africa. Twent}^ Nile 
boats lying there at anchor had run up 
their flags in honor of the ''' Sultan's daugh- 
ter," and their crews received the strangers 
with volleys of musketry that were an- 
swered by the arriving boats. 

The first thing to be performed there 
was to see that all the necessary things for 
the great journey were on hand, and an 
investigation proved unfortunately that 
many things were still needed, notwith- 
standing the great outlay in money that 
had already been made; indeed, so mauy 
things were still wanting that it was neces- 



Heroine of the White Nile. 85 

sary to send the Baron witli the steamer 
back to Khartoom to purchase the needed 
supplies. This was a most unpleasant 
place for a delay, for the region was very 
unhealthy, and a few square rods was about 
all the dry land that could be obtained for 
the accommodation of all these people. 

The first object of the travelers was to 
reach the Kosanga River, which comes 
from the west about eighty miles in a 
direct line from Meshra. One can obtain 
some idea of the difficulty of traveling in 
these regions from the fact that the com- 
pany was only able to reach this point 
after great difficulty and the most stupend- 
ous exertions, and that tliey could not 
reach the great aim of their journey, which 
was the unknown land of the Mam-Nams. 
Some of the camels that had been brought 
through the swamps as far as Meshra had 

abeady died on account of their unaccus- 
6 



S6 Heroine of the White Nile. 

tomed and fearful exertions ; the remaining 
beasts of burden were not sufficient to 
transport the baggage, and the Khartoom 
traders settled in Meshra were glad to lay- 
all sorts of impediments in the way of the 
expedition. They were exceedingly angry 
that Miss Tinne had come into "their 
land," as they called it, to spy into their 
shameful dealings with the negroes, and 
be a spectator of their cruel kidnaj)ping. 

Heudin and Dr. Steudner therefore re- 
solved to venture into the iuterior to try 
their fortune in hiring black porters for 
the baggage, whom they could send to 
Meshra, where the ladies were to await 
them. We will follow them then for 
awhile, for on their exertions and success 
will depend the advance of the entire ex- 
pedition. 

Pressing on through the marshes and 
swamps toward the west, they at last 



Heroine of the White Nile. 8/ 

arrived at the higher and woody region 
through which flows the river Djour, which 
finally empties into the Gazelle. They 
found this country filled, every-where, with 
the only articles that had nntil then been 
used in trade, namely, glass beads and 
copper bracelets; these were every- where 
•used as money, and as the people had an 
abundance of them, they found it almost 
impossible to buy the necessary food for 
themselves and servants. x\nd it was also 
almost impossible to obtain pack-men, or 
porters, among the negroes even with the 
largest offers of copper, because the ivory- 
dealers of Khartoom, who often hired ne- 
groes to go with their caravans as porters, 
seldom paid them and sent them back to 
their houses, but were far more likely to 
chain them in the slave-yoke on the way, 
and send them as booty to the Nile, to be 
sold to the Arab slave-traders. 



88 Herome of the White Nile. 

This base deception had frightened the 
negroes, who not only were unwilling to 
join caravans to be plundered, stolen, or 
miu'dered, but were quite likely to get out 
of the way of all that came, or attack them 
if they were strong enough. The natives 
could not distinguish innocent travelers, 
who were their friends, from those who 
were their most brutal enemies, and there- 
fore good men were obliged to sujQfer, which 
was especially the case just now with 
Heuglin and Steudner. 

Therefore, as they could hire no porters 
on the banks of the Djour, they went 
farther to the west. To increase their mis- 
fortune, they were both violently attacked 
by the fever; the climate began to show its 
fatal influence. They commenced also to 
run out of provisions, and especially of 
just those things that they most needed 
in case of sickness. No wonder, then, that 



Heroine of the White Nile. 89 

both continued to grow weaker and weak- 
er, so that even the largest doses of quinine 
did not seem at all to affect the fever that 
was penetrating to the very marrow of 
their bones. Thus exhausted, they reached 
the village of Wau, a little west of the 
river, and here the climate claimed its first 
victim of the expedition. In spite of all 
the aid that his friend and companion 
Heuglin could afford him, Dr. Steudner 
fell a prey to the repeated attacks of the 
fatal fever. His mourning comrade buried 
him under a group of trees, and was 
obliged to hurry on to the Bongo land in 
search of assistance. Here he succeeded 
in procuring about one hundred and fifty 
pack-carriers, and with them hastened to 
Meshra. The ladies were delighted to see 
him, for he had been absent nearly six 
weeks in performing his difficult task. 
But matters were little better in Meshra : 



90 Heroine of the White Nile. 

tlie mother of Miss Tinne was very sick 
of the fever, that had taken a fatal hold 
on her, and never left her, and nearly all 
the other members of the expedition were 
suffering from this fearful pest of Africa. 

We can therefore imagine the joy of 
these sorely tried ladies after the long de- 
lay when they saw their friend return with 
a band of porters, and their sorrow when 
they learned at what a sacrifice they had 
been obtained. The death of the Doctor 
cast a gloom over all, and seemed to fore- 
bode the disasters that were in store for 
them. And then they were all astounded 
at the enormous demands of these men for 
carrying the baggage to Kosanga River, 
only seventy-five miles distant; they were 
to receive no less than one thousand dol- 
lars and their food. 

In order to proceed through these mo- 
rasses and the ever-widening water-courses 



Heroine of the White Nile, 91 

of these interminaljle swamps, Miss Tinne 
purchased of the English Consul, who had 
just arrived in Meshra on a trading jour- 
ney, a boat made of gum elastic, or India 
rubber, that could be inflated by means of 
large bellows when it was needed for use, 
and then emptied of air, and carried by 
about six men ; this was of great use to 
her. 

In the meanwhile the Baron had ar- 
rived from Khartoom with a new supply 
of provisions; but the tropical rains had 
also come by the time the expedition was 
prepared to start. The land had previous- 
ly been one great marsh, but the pouring 
floods now turned it into one great lake. 
Through this it was necessary to wade, or 
swim, or sail, in order to advance, and ad- 
vance they must in order to get into the 
higher land, away from the valley of the 
river, where they would all have been 



92 Heroine of the White Nile. 

drowned. We can imagine the condition 
of the ladies under these circumstances, 
and yet they never lost courage. The 
water fell in streams from the clouds ; the 
land, as far as the eye could reach, was 
one great watery surface, and very often 
they had not a dry thread on their backs ; 
and, to make the matter worse, the inter- 
mittent fever was shaking them to pieces. 

In this condition they arrived at the 
Djour, which was already a swollen, stormy 
flood ; the Europeans crossed it safely with 
their rubber boat, but a large portion of 
the provision was thoroughly soaked or 
entirely lost. At last they arrived at the 
settlement of an Italian named Biselli, situ- 
ated in Bongo. This man, like most of his 
fellows in Africa, carried on a profitable 
trade in slaves and ivory; and we need, 
therefore, hardly say that the expedition 
was not very warmly w^elcomed by him. 



Heroine of the White Nile. 93 

It interfered with his occupation, and 
greatly increased the price of all kinds of 
supplies from the unusual demand that it 
made, and the fame of the wealth of Miss 
Tinne, of which every one was inclined to 
take advantage. 

i< It also happened just then that there 
was almost a famine in that region ; neither 
cattle nor grain could be obtained for the 
highest prices, and sometimes the ladies, 
who were now both sick, could scarcely 
obtain a bowl of broth, but were obliged 
to eat the sour and unpalatable bread 
made of a coarse grain called doura. In 
addition to this, the rain continued to pour 
down in torrents, although they were away 
from the swampy region, and in the higher 
forest land, that was covered with trees 
and resembled a beautiful park. The copi- 
ous rains after the dry season gave new 
life to vegetation, and the numerous climb- 



94 Heroine of the White Nile. 

ing plants wound rotind and round the 
trees in all tlie fresh and beautiful green 
of spring. 

Things continued to grow worse every 
day; the Italian became more and more 
unfriendly, and the animals for baggage 
and for riding sickened and died, one after 
another. Messengers had again been sent 
to Khartoom after provisions, but one could 
scarcely count on their return before six 
months. In addition to this they learned 
that the Kosanga Eiver was so swollen 
with the floods that it would be impos- 
sible to carry the baggage across it. And 
to transport four hundred loads of bag- 
gage to that river, only distant about three 
days' journey, the Italian trader demanded 
sixteen hundred dollars. Miss Tinne was 
about to yield even to this shameless de- 
mand, when circumstances rendered this 
course unnecessarv. 



Heroine of the White Nile. 95 

The sickness of Iier motlier became more 
and more alarming; they had used up all 
their medicine, and in spite of the most 
affectionate and self-sacrificing care of the 
daughter, who passed dav and night by 
the mother's side, she yielded to the slow 
disease that had been so long exhausting 
all her strength. Her death, and the sad 
condition of the expedition, put an end to 
the enterprise, and Miss Tinne resolved to 
return. She, however, offered the remains 
of her supplies to Heuglin if he wished to 
press forward; but his means were too 
limited to justify him in undertaking an 
extensive journey, and he also resolved to 
return with her. 

But their misfortunes were not yet at 
an end; blow seemed to follow blow. 
Heuglin had a friend who was a German 
gardener; he had hastened on ahead to 
reconnoiter the region of the Kosanga 



96 Heroine of the White Nile. 

Mountains. He, too, suddenly died of the 
dysentery. The two European maid-serv- 
ants of Miss Tinne followed him to the 
grave, and then the Italian interpreter, not 
to mention the many native servants 
that also died. Thus six Europeans had 
died during the expedition, and the only 
ones that arrived in Khartoom were Miss 
Tinne, Heuglin, and the Baron; and the 
first news they received in Khartoom was 
that of the death of Miss Tinne's aunt, the 
Baroness. 




' 




CHAPTEE X. 

THE EESXJLTS OF THE EXPEDITION. 

YOU will naturally say tliat these were 
mere waste of money, suffering, and 
death. But not so. The cosi^, it is true, 
was great and terrible ; yet there was some- 
thing gained. Science was greatly en- 
riched by it. Heuglin brought back with 
him a large collection of rare birds, and a 
very rich experience in relation to the bird- 
world of Africa. This, as we have before 
said, is now being published in a beautiful 
and useful fonxi. The same profit would 
have been gained for the world of plants 
but for the sad death of poor Dr. Steud- 
ner ; he had gained a great deal of infor- 
mation, but it died with him. 



98 Heroine of the White Nile. 

Then a great deal of important informa- 
tion was obtained regarding the manners 
and customs of the various unknown tribes 
of this region; and the personal experi- 
ence of the members of the expedition was 
largely increased by what they learned of 
the cannibal tribes living in the southern 
country of Ni^m-Nam. The position of 
the station of Meshra, on the Mle, was 
definitely settled, as well as the course of 
the Djaur and Kosanga rivers. In short, 
all of the confused water-courses to the 
west of the White Nile were made much 
more intelligible by the accounts of this 
enterjDrise. 

This expedition brought news for the 
first time of the existence of the Senna 
River, w^hich flows west war dly in the 
country of the Ni^ms, is broader than the 
White Nile, and is navigable for large 
boats. But of very special interest was 



Heroine of the White Nile, 99 

the knowledge brought of the existence of 
a large lake in the south, with flat shores ; 
the people living on the northern end of 
this lake reported that they had sailed 
south for twenty-four hours without being 
able to discover the land of the opposite 
shore. Just at that time English explor- 
ers were searching every-where for large 
inland lakes as sources of the Nile, and 
since then have discovered some very large 
and important ones. But this lies farther 
w^est than any of theirs, and an Italian 
trader traveling through the land has 
since discovered it, and reported it to the 
European world. Miss Tinne's expedition 
deserves the credit of having given the first 
information of it to the world. 

The expedition was obliged to remain 
till the end of the rainy season, as it was 
almost impossible to travel ; during all this 
time a large amount of valuable informa- 



100 Heroine of the White Nile. 

tion was gained about the general char- 
acter of the country. The rainy season 
there lasts until about the middle of Octo- 
ber, then they have beautiful weather ; the 
floods subside, and the birds again appear 
in numbers. They had large quantities of 
vegetables and wild honey, and the health 
of the surviving European members of the 
expedition began to improve. They now 
began to think of returning, but could not 
do so until about January, because the 
vessels would not arrive at Meshra, from 
Khartoom, before that time. 

They finally arrived safely at Meshra, 
and found a good supply of provisions 
awaiting them there, and, after a good rest, 
they commenced the return jom-ney. This 
was not without its difficulties, arising 
mainly from the interference of the natives 
on the one hand and the slave-traders on 
the other. The negroes thought the expe- 



Heroine of the White Nile. loi 

dition was coming to get slaves, and the 
traders knew that it was trying to pry into 
and break up their trade. 

After they had passed Lake No and en- 
tered the White Mle they came upon an 
immense barrier of trees and plants, which 
the Shillook neo:roes had constructed with 
a view of barring up the river. It was 
made, indeed, of every thing in the vege- 
table line that they could collect together, 
and formed a large island, on which one 
could walk about with dry feet. It took 
the hard labor of about one hundred and 
fifty men for two days to break a passage 
through it. 

At Hellet, where the mighty Moham- 
med-Cher had wished to proclaim Miss 
Tinne Queen of Soudan, a great change 
had taken place. This man-stealer had 
been driven away, and an Egyptian officer 

was ruler in his place. 

7 



102 Heroine of the White Nile. 

Farther down tlie stream tlie expedition 
encountered some of the river pirates or 
slave-stealers, and had a sharp skirmish 
with them; shots were exchanged, and 
finally one of the piratical boats was cap- 
tured, and brought to Khartoom for trial 
and punishment. Miss Tinne at last reached 
this head-quarters for Central Africa, after 
an absence of a year and a half She had 
spent nearly three years in Soudan, and 
during this time this mysterious and bar- 
barous land had become to her as a home, 
notwithstanding all the terrors of its cli- 
mate and the cruelty and degradation of 
its people. 

She had become better acquainted with 
it than any other explorer, and had defi- 
nitely settled a great many geographical 
points. If she had done nothing else than 
^^ the position of Meshra, at the head of 
Gazelle River, as a convenient harbor and 



Heroine of the White Nile. 103 

stopping-place for expeditions, her labors 
would have entitled her to the gratitude 
of subsequent travelers, as this knowledge 
was of prime importance to them in 
making their arrangements for expeditions. 
Even her failures had taught the world a 
great and useful lesson; some one must 
suffer and make mistakes in these great 
enterprises, while gaining the knowledge 
necessary to make them a success. 

Those who profit by this experience are 
apt to reap all the credit, as w^as the case 
with a subsequent expedition to these 
same regions by the celebrated Frenchman 
whom we have already named. Indeed, 
Miss Tinne was the first to suggest to the 
world that Africa was only to be con- 
quered by great expeditions, such as she 
with her vast wealth, or a sovereign with 
his advantages, could undertake. A great 
many little bands of two, three, or five 



104 Heroine of the White Nile. 

undaunted men had undertaken the task 
of exploration. Some had never returned ; 
others came back to relate their marvel- 
ous stories, and entertain and instruct the 
world. 

Miss Tinne desired to take with her a 
force that could make itself felt for the 
moral and material welfare of Africa, and, 
although she seemed to do but little, she 
certainly laid the foundation of new efforts 
that will, probably, regenerate the land. 
Just now a monster expedition is making 
its way up the Nile to the extreme interior, 
which received its impetus from the fact 
that Miss Tinne's example caused men to 
think it possible and desirable. 

And, lastly, among the results of this 
expedition, we must not omit a strange 
collection of native negroes, which Miss 
Tinne brought with her to illustrate the 
different types of the various tribes that 



Heroine of the White Nile. 105 

slie met with. While Heuglin was study- 
ing and capturing the birds, she was busy 
among the inhabitants, and wherever she 
found peculiarly formed individuals, who 
were evidently the representative of an- 
other branch of the race, she captured 
them loy kindness, and brought them along. 
They were, indeed, glad to come with her, 
for they were mostly recaptured slaves that 
had been stolen far in the interior. 

She had eighteen of these specimens of 
varieties of tlie race, and they attracted so 
much attention among intelligent and sci- 
entific men that they were first painted 
by a skillful artist, and finally engraved 
and printed in the great illustrated papers 
of Germany. 

But the greatest result of this expedition 
was, doubtless, the moral blow it struck 
at the internal slave-trade. Before her 
visit to these regions little else was done 



io6 



Heroine of the White Nile. 



in them; just now the Viceroy is sustain- 
ing a great expedition, whose main object 
is to suppress the slave-trade and intro- 
duce the blessings of civilization. 

Who, therefore, shall say that her efforts, 
trials, and sufferings were in vain % 




CHAPTEK XL 



HEE EETUEIS^ TO CAIEO. 

THERE were no attractions for Miss 
Tinne in Khartoom; for, in the first 
place, she had begun an action against its 
Governor on account of his complicity 
with the slave-trade, and was about to re- 
quest the Pasha of all Egypt to remove 
him because he carried on this trade in 
human flesh. Of this she had obtained a 
multitude of proofs. And then, in the 
next place, the state of her health abso- 
lutely demanded rest and a more healthy 
climate. The few survivors of the expedi- 
tion were almost broken down by its trials 
and dangers. Leaving, therefore, the main 
body of her attendants to come down the 



I08 Heroine of the White Nile. 

river in their boats, she proceeded by cara- 
van to the Eed Sea ; then, at the port of 
Suakim, she embarked on a steamer for 
Suez, and arrived safely in Cairo. 

Now you will say that she set out im- 
mediately for her European home and 
friends ; but not so ! She resolved to make 
the land that contained the precious re- 
mains of her mother and aunt her future 
home, strange as it may seem. Her step- 
brother, learning of her great misfortunes, 
hastened to Egypt to comfort her in her 
affliction, and accompany her to Europe. 
But he returned without accomplishing 
his oljject ; his sister absolutely refused to 
leave Africa. 

She was very much ojDpressed in spirit 
on account of the death of the mother 
whom she loved dearly, and who loved 
her so much as to be willing to follow her 
in her strange adventures. And to this 



Heroine of the White Nile. 109 

was added the grief of the loss of so many 
other friends in an enterprise of her own 
instigation. She seemed to desire retire- 
ment for a time, and settled in Cairo, 
where, as a woman, she could hide herself 
from society as much as she pleased. 

To occupy her mind, she began to pay 
more and more attention to her oriental 
tastes, and, in accordance with her resolve 
never again to return to Europe, she sought 
to become entirely a daughter of the East. 
She carried this inclination to such an ex- 
tent that some of her friends and acquaint- 
ances began to doubt her soundness of 
mind, and others to question the propriety 
of her conduct. Even scandal did its work. 
But these attacks on her character fell 
harmless to the ground. All that could 
be proved was that Miss Tinne was ex- 
ceedingly strange and eccentric, and those 
who could not comprehend her, or did not 



no Heroine of the White Nile. 

sympathize with her, felt like Unding fault 
with her. 

She had long ago discarded all European 
fashions, and adopted the beautiful flow- 
ing dress of the Arabian ladies, which so 
fittingly clothed her fine tall figure. She 
would have none but Arabian or African 
servants around her, and in her house she 
sat on divans, like the Orientals, instead of 
using the European chair. Every thing 
around her bore an oriental stamp, and she 
was indeed likely to become in feeling a 
daughter of the grand ruler of Stamboul. 
She had hired a house in the older town 
of Cairo, where Europeans seldom pene- 
trate, and she consequently saw but little 
of them, and her presence was scarcely 
known to them. 

By mere accident one day she met a 
friend whom she had formerly known and 
esteemed; she greeted him, and bid him 



Heroijte of the White Nile. 1 1 1 

come and see her in her oriental retreat. 
He was a German artist, named Gentz, 
who had spent some time in the East 
taking pictures of oriental life, and there- 
fore had sharp eyes for all that was inter- 
esting. He visited his friend, and has 
painted her surroundings not only with 
pencil but with pen, and he tells his story 
so gracefully that we give it as a model 
one to our readers. 





CHAPTER XII. 



THE AETIST'S STOEY. 

ONE day, while promenading in the 
Grand Allee of the Schubrah in 
Cairo, where all the fine carriages of the 
harems of the Grand Khedive of Egypt 
and the Pashas were rolling by in state, 
a friendly motion of a hand and head in 
one of the carriages greeted me, and I 
perceived that it came from a vailed lady, 
enveloped in dazzling silk. My astonish- 
ment was great, but that of my companion 
was greater, for he had lived for many 
years in Egypt, and knew the stern cus- 
toms that bind oriental ladies. 

I first thought it an intentional and 



Heroine of the White Nile. 113 

jesting mystification, until I learned from 
one of tlie accompanying servants that the 
inmate of the carriage was Miss Tinne. 
I had made her acquaintance through 
Heuglin, at the time of her grand expedi- 
tion to the region of the Gazelle Eiver, at 
the same time that I made the acquaint- 
ance of the English Consul for Central 
Africa, who, with his wife, was ascending 
the river by orders of the English govern- 
ment, to meet Speke and Grant on their 
return. After years of hardship they had 
returned again into the regions of civiliza- 
tion, and I was the first European who 
had the pleasure of congratulating them, 
on their return, at their success in over- 
coming so many terrible difficulties. 

Miss Tinne was at that time extremely 
low-spirited. She had lost mother and 
aunt on the fatal journey, in consequence 
of the deadly climate, and by whom sho 



114 Heroine of the White Nile. 

was very ardently loved. And Dr. Steud- 
ner, her physician, vv^liom she greatly 
esteemed, became also a victim, as did 
one after another of her faithful European 
maids. Death had robbed her of nearly 
every dear relative, and taken from her all 
the European connections v^ith her home. 
She seemed resolved to leave things in 
this condition, and repeatedly declared 
that she would never again visit Europe, 
although her step-brother had kindly has- 
tened to her assistance and escort. 

She stood firm against all enticements 
in this direction, and was maturing a plan 
to build a castle near Cairo, on the Island 
of Ehodes, in the Nile, where the gardens 
of Ibraham Pasha were proud in the 
beauty of southern vegetation. For this 
purpose she had engaged the services of 
the architect of the Viceroy, a German 
from Wiesbaden ; he had built the royal 



Heroine of the White Nile. 115 

palace of Ghesirali, and slie desired Mm to 
present plans to Ler. She was also nego- 
tiating with a celebrated architect for 
Moorish styles, my friend for many years, 
who was unfortunately snatched from a 
field of great usefulness by an attack of 
the fearful small-pox. 

In her plans for building Miss Tinne ran 
into the most eccentric styles. Nothing 
was sufficiently fantastical or labyrinthine 
for her. The Arabian architecture, with 
its winding and involved arabesques, and 
the irregularity in the height of adjoining 
rooms — with its projections and ranges of 
columns — was well calculated to satisfy this 
desire. The Viceroy of Egypt, however, 
who did not fancy this Holland lady for a 
neighbor, interfered with her architectural 
plans. She had brought before him an 
accusation against the Governor of Khar- 
toom on account of ill-treatment received 



1 16 Heroine of the White Nile. 

at Ms hands, and demanded Ms dismissal. 
Tlie Viceroy did not wish to grant this re- 
quest, although the injustice done the lady- 
was clear. This was his main interest in not 
wishing her to make a permanent settle* 
ment in Egypt, and especially so near him. 
As nearly two thirds of the land in that 
region belongs to the Viceroy, and almost 
all the remaining third to the mosques, 
there was no difficulty in exerting such an 
influence on the owners that Miss Tinne 
could not secure ground enough, in any 
acceptable place, for her proposed castle. 
Thus she finally left the Nile on her own 
steamer, to coast along the shores of the 
Mediterranean. For a time her vessel lay 
at Civita Vecchia, whence she made many 
visits to Eome. It was natural that her 
appearance here, surrounded by her troop 
of black servants, excited a great deal of 
curiosity. 



Heroine of the White Nile. 1 1 7 

She finally resolved on a journey from 
Tripoli through the desert to Timbuctoo, 
and for this purpose endeavored to secure 
the company of Rohlfs, who had just 
returned from a most daring adventure 
across the trackless desert of Morocco. 
But, unfortunately for her, the noble young 
traveler had just received orders from 
the King of Prussia to accompany the 
English expedition to Abyssinia; this 
forced him to decline the invitation of 
Miss Tinne. 

It is difficult to describe the labyrinth- 
ine confusion of oriental cities to one who 
has never seen them. I myself, having 
lived in^many of them, could not again find 
the dwelling of Miss Tinne in Old Cairo, 
although Heuglin had conducted me there 
the first time. But the native smartness 
of the donkey-boys of Cairo helped me out 
of my difficulty. These boys with their 

8 



1 1 8 Heroine of the White Nile. 

donkeys are like the cabs and cabmen of 
European cities. 

As I was groping about in Old Cairo, 
peering into every street to discover some 
sign of Miss Tinne's house, one of these 
donkey-boys, with large sphinx-like eyes, 
said to me, " Effendi, are you looking for 
the Dutch Countess ? " for by this title the 
generous lady had acquired a reputation 
among the donkey-owners of the old city. 
The Egyptians are inborn tormentors of 
beasts, and especially of the poor donkey. 
Induced by her warm and sympathizing 
heart. Miss Tinne had taken some of the 
half-murdered animals from the boys, to 
nurse and cure them. This fact had be- 
come known, and thus it happened that 
very soon from all quarters sick donkeys, 
and other mangy and worn-out beasts, 
were sent to the "Dutch Countess" to be 
cured. Her mansion bid fair to be turned 



Heroine of the White Nile. 1 19 

into a donkey hospital, when she was at 
last obliged to refuse admission to any 
more patients. 

On the outside Miss Tinne's house re- 
sembled a dilapidated ruin. I was led 
through the dark passages of the lower 
story, taking the place of our cellars, of 
which there are none on the Nile, and ar- 
rived, by the attention of my little Egyp- 
tian guide, in an open yard, where I could 
again breathe freely. The dark azure-blue 
sky, and the golden crowns of three lofty 
palms lighted by a burning sun, lent to 
the ruin-like structure that picturesque 
tint that artists so rejoice to find. 

On some stone steps in the open air, 
which led to the dilapidated rear build- 
ings, some monkeys were sunning them- 
selves. Little negro slaves, boys and girls, 
lay in the warm sunshine on the ground; 
large negresses from Soudan inquisitively 



120 Heroine of the White Nile. 

stuck out of broken window-panes their 
wooley heads, with brilliant eyes and teeth. 
Long-haired ISTubian grayhounds, trained 
to the chase of the gazelle, came jumping 
and j)laying toward me. An old white- 
haired Berber, such as is usually found 
tending the doors in Egyptian houses, re- 
ceived my card, to announce me to the 
mistress of the strange establishment. 

Having soon returned, he led me into a 
second court, where I passed by large open 
rooms containing an immense collection 
of curiosities illustrating the manners and 
customs of the Central Africans; it re- 
quired no less than fifty camels to trans- 
port these from the interior of Africa. 
Among these were curious weapons, stuffed 
birds, antlers of the antelope, horns of the 
rhinoceros, and all the household utensils 
of the various tribes of Soudan. These 
were lying around still unarranged. 



Heroine of the White Nile. I2I 

Miss Tinne comes to meet me ; she wears 
an oriental turban wound round her Lead, 
and an Egyptian dress, with long flowing 
sleeves of changeable gray silk; this was 
thrown over a black mourning dress. Her 
feet were covered in Arabian style with 
long morocco boots. The tall, beautiful, 
pale figure, affected by grief and sickness, 
with her decidedly intellectual features, 
and easy, refined manners, could not but 
leave a pleasant impression on every one. 

Her reception-room, into which I was 
conducted, was an ancient harem, one side 
of which was composed entirely of win- 
dows. From the outside it was not pos- 
sible to look into the room, because the 
windows were covered with finely carved 
and grated bow window-frames; through 
these a soft and delicate light was shed into 
the room, which produced a sort of mys- 
tical charm. The floor was composed of 



122 Heroine of the White Nile. 

inlaid marble of various colors, and the 
ceiling of wainscoting, adorned with fancy 
carvings in the Turkish style. 

All around the walls were the usual 
Turkish divans, instead of chairs, the frames 
of which were formed of wood of the palm- 
tree. In the center of the room were a few 
peculiar low seats, resting on three sup- 
ports, and most whimsically carved ; these 
were from the land of the Ni^m-Nams. 
The only piece of European furniture was 
a small, modest wooden table, on which 
was a large Arabian lantern, such as are 
to-day in use among the Turkish Pashas. 
By the side of this were scattered the 
books and drawings of Heuglin. 

For me as an artist this visit to Miss 
Tinne was of the greatest interest, because 
it afforded me au opportunity to take 
sketches of the many slaves of every tribe 
from the most inaccessible regions of Af- 



Heroine of the White Nile. 123 

rica. She yielded to my wishes in this 
respect with great readiness and kindness. 
Among the girls I especially observed one 
yoTiDg creature about fourteen years old, 
of the tribe of the Gallas, which is cele- 
brated for its beauty. She might have sat 
for a model of a queen of her race. The 
children hastened to show me their arms 
and breasts, that I might admire the scor- 
pions, serpents, and crocodiles that were 
tattooed on them in the most unique and 
fantastic forms. 

These eighteen remarkable specimens of 
the black and brown races Miss Tinne in- 
formed me had voluntarily followed her, 
because in theii* wild native land they 
were continually exposed to the fearful 
cruelties of the never-ceasing slave-trade. 
From a missionary who had seen her in 
the interior of AMca, I learned that she 
had often taken a severely wounded slave 



1 24 Heroine of tJie White Nile. 

on her own beast, and herself waded for 
hours in the deejDest mire. She certainly 
had a most sympathizing heart. 

While I was sketching her negroes she 
would sit in Arabian style on the floor, 
looking at me, and seemed never to grow 
weary in recounting to me her adventures. 
The extensive marshy regions about the 
sources of the Mle appeared to have re- 
called to her memory her early Holland 
home; the boundless green meadows on 
which her young eyes had rested rose 
vividly to her eyes. Indeed, she com- 
plained of being sometimes satiated with 
verdure, and longed for the dry and yel- 
low sands of the desert. 




CHAPTER XIII. 

FOUE YEAES OF LO]S^GI]^a. 

THE artist closed Ms story with an ex- 
pression whicli gives us tbe key-note 
for the present chapter. Miss Tinne had 
withdrawn into a species of solitude, and 
seemed desirous of shunning the ordinary 
world. And thus she lived for about four 
years, in which time but little was known 
or heard about her. But her heart was 
by no means satisfied ; it was filled with an 
undefined longing after something. She 
first proposed to build a fairy-like, oriental 
home in the midst of the Nile, where she 
could ever behold its rolling waters, see its 
luxuriant gardens, and be surrounded by 



m 



126 Heroine of the White Nile. 

the creatures whom she had rescued from 
the cruelties of bondage. 

We have related how she was thwarted 
in this intention, and given a picture of 
her home in Cairo, where the artist found 
her cut off from all European associations, 
and surrounded by servants and arrange- 
ments that would as far as possible keep 
her in the interior of Africa. She seemed 
for a time to devote herself almost entirely 
to the task of indulging these beings in 
whatever they might desire. She kept a 
perfect swarm of them around her, and 
thus erected a little world in her own 
domain. 

They soon showed their natural inclina- 
tion to lead a loose and easy life, and use 
their mistress's heart and money to make 
lords of themselves instead of servants. 
Miss Tinne was so willing to yield to all 
Oriental ways that she permitted her 



Heroine of the White Nile. 127 

chief servants to have several wives, as is 
tlie custom all over the East v^ith those 
who are rich enough to keep up an estab- 
lishment. This brought into her house- 
hold a new element and increased numbers. 
The subordinate servants soon claimed the 
same favor, which she had not the heart 
to deny them, and so in a short time she 
had around her a perfect colony of serv- 
ants, with their numerous wives and chil- 
dren. These she all retained, and thus her 
later journeys bore the appearance of great 
emigrant-trains, with women, children, and 
all the household gods. 

As she did not feel like mingling with 
the world, she adopted the Oriental fashion 
of exclusiveness within her own walls, but 
here her subjects were so numerous that 
she did not want for society, and that, for 
the present, of a kind in accordance with 
her own strange caprices. These children, 



128 Heroine of the White Nile. 

and a pack of beautiful Egyptian honnds, 
afforded her many an hour of favorite 
amusement. 

In connection with her dogs is told an 
amusing story of a young German student 
who for a time became a member of her 
household as master of the hounds. He 
had read in his German home, on the 
river Elbe, of the thrilling adventures in 
Africa of the celebrated German traveler 
Rohlfs, and the story of them set him 
almost mad on the subject. He became 
crazy to penetrate the jungles and marshe^^^, 
and cross the desert in search of adven- 
tures. He had no means, and no hopes, 
and not the least prospect of being success- 
ful in this line of duty. 

But jDresently he hears that E-ohlfs is 
preparing for a new expedition, and he re- 
solves to go along whether he can or not. 
He leaves his home, and after the most 



Heroine of the White Nile. 129 

wonderful adventures, deprivations, hard- 
ships, and dangers, he succeeds in reaching 
Africa, and finding the renowned traveler. 
But what could Rohlf do with a mere boy, 
with no means in his pocket, and an educa- 
tion so unfinished that his experience and 
observations could be of no possible use 
to the world. He told the young madcap 
that he could not possibly grant him his 
wish, but recommended him to Miss Tinne, 
who might, perhaps, find some way to 
make him useful. 

The lady did not want him, but in the 
kindness of her heart could not turn him 
away in a strange and distant land, and 
thus installed him as master of her Ara- 
bian grayhounds. He continued to per- 
form the duties of this office until about a 
month before she began her last journey, 
but about this time one of the dogs died, 
and she made this the occasion to dismiss 



130 Heroine of the White Nile. 

the useless keeper. The young man owes 
his own life to the dog's death, for had he 
gone on the last expedition he would 
never have returned alive. 

Some persons who did not like Miss 
Tinne's special favor for colored surround- 
ings said the mistake in the young man 
w^as his color; had he been of jetty black 
he would have found a warmer welcome. 
But the truth was that the lady had ac- 
quired a certain dislike for every thing of 
a European stamp, and wanted nothing of 
that origin around Iter. And the question 
was very naturally and frequently asked, 
"Why? 

The lady herself never answered the 
question; many busybodies have tried to 
do so, and thus have retailed a great vari- 
ety of stories. Some say that the fame of 
her wealth, her beauty, and her natural 
talents, with her accomplishments, attracted 



Heroine of the White Nile. 131 

the attention of a great many gentlemen, 
who thus became suitors for her hand. 
She suspected that their object was more 
her fortune than herself, and rejected them, 
preferring to exhaust the love of her heart 
in exciting travel, and devotion to hu- 
manity wherever she could find a fitting 
object for care and labor. The gossips 
say that two noblemen followed her as 
far as Khartoom, in the hopes of present- 
ing to her greater attractions than she 
could find in the swamps of the Upper 
Nile. 

Thus the most remarkable stories were 
floating in society regarding her antipathy 
to the golden chains of marriage, and her 
mania for a life of adventure. People 
seemed desirous of knowing the motives 
that could draw her away from home and 
friends, into wild and dangerous lands, and 
cause her to find more pleasure in associa- 



132 Heroine of the White Nile. 

ting with tlie barbarous or half-civilized, 
than with the I'efined and cultivated of her 
own race. 

Some find the impulse in the following 
sad story, which, if true, will go far toward 
inducing us to pardon many of her foibles. 
At the time when she was still living in 
her native city of the Hague, she made 
the acquaintance of a distinguished foreign 
gentleman, who was connected with one 
of the German embassies. x\mong the 
many claimants who strove to gain this 
lady, so distinguished for her personal and 
intellectual gifts, he was the one favored 
above all others. But their association, 
begun under such favorable auspices, came 
to a very sad close ; the chosen one proved 
finally to be a very unworthy and unde- 
sirable man. He was obliged to leave 
Holland very suddenly, and all his subse- 
quent efforts to approach Miss Tinne re- 



Heroine of the White Nile. 133 

mained unavailing; but he followed her 
even to Egypt. 

It is probable that all the many stories, 
scattered broadcast concerning Miss Tinne's 
aversion to marriage, may be reduced to 
this attested one. This deception left a 
bitter thorn in her breast, and may have 
induced her to shun the society where she 
met with so galling and painful an experi- 
ence, and added strength to the resolution 
to give free play to her inclination for 
travel and adventure. 

Those who were not acquainted with 
her, and not aware of the influences that 
impelled her, and who knew nothing of 
her but her adventurous and strange ex- 
peditions, naturally acquired very peculiar 
and not very favorable ideas regarding her 
mode of life. And, in the demoralized 
and gossiping Orient, whose inhabitants 

could not at all comprehend so strange a 
9 



134 Heroine of the White Nile. 

soul in a woman, there was no lack of 
ill-humored stories concerning her. But 
not a single slander of them all proved 
true. Those who were favored with her 
friendship, and knew her well on account 
of having traveled with her, praise the 
purity of her character, her magnanim- 
ity, and her astonishing generosity. But 
they, at the same time, do not conceal 
many rough, peculiar, and strange phases 
of her character, which, perhaps, received 
new strength by her life in the wilds of 
Africa. 

But, whatever may have been the mo- 
tives, she was thoroughly wedded to Orien- 
tal life, and her four years' residence in 
Cairo seemed only one continuous longing 
to engage in some new enterprise. This 
desire she satisfied by occasional journeys 
throughout the waters and to the ports 
of the Mediterranean. She purchased a 



Heroine of the White Nile. 135 

steamboat, and, always accompanied by a 
portion of her black attendants, visited 
nearly every important port of the Medi- 
terranean. Thus she saw Smyrna, Con- 
stantinople, ISTaples, and Rome. 

Then she returned to the northern shores 
of x\frica, and left no prominent place 
here unvisited. She remained a longer 
or shorter time at Algiers, Tunis, and 
Tripoli. At this last station her attention 
was attracted by the large caravans arriv- 
ing from the south. These traveled over 
the golden sands of the desert, from points 
as distant as Lake Tchad, coming to the 
Mediterranean richly laden with the pro- 
ductions of those marvelous regions in the 
heart of Africa. 

The accounts of such travelers as Barth, 
Vogel, and Eohlfs reached her ears, and 
increased her interest in this portion of 
Africa, and she soon felt that she had 



136 Heroine of the White Nile. 

found the field for whicli she had so long 
been sighing. She resolved on visiting 
the Mohammedan regions of Sondan, as she 
had already visited the pagan portions of 
it in the distant east and south. 





CHAPTEK XIV. 

PEEPAEATIOlJirS FOE HEE LAST EXPEDITION. 

OUR heroine uow proceeded to break 
up her household in Cairo, and pre- 
pared to visit the wild children of nature 
in the deepest interior of Africa. She felt 
that among them at least she was a Queen, 
for they continued to regard her as the 
dazzling daughter of the Sultan, who came 
among them as a ministering angel of love 
and kindness, ready to lavish her vast 
wealth on them with a generous hand. 

She knew that she was undertaking a 
most dangerous enterprise, for the tribes 
of these deserts are cruel and deceitful, 
and she desired to make her expedition as 



138 Heroine of the White Nile. 

secure as possible. She seldom or never 
asked any of her European friends to pro- 
tect her, butj nevertheless, while in Tunis 
she endeavored to obtain the protection 
of the Consul from Holland to view the 
city, and make other arrangements for her 
safety. To this end she had procured let- 
ters of recommendation to him from the 
Dutch government at the Hague. 

Now she had ever created quite an ex- 
citement with her splendid train of black 
servants, and equipages of various kinds, 
and had ever been a highly honored and 
admired guest. But in Tunis she was 
destined to meet with quite a cool recep- 
tion from one of her own countrymen on 
account of her dress. We have already 
said that she had long ago discarded all 
European fashions, and adopted the beau- 
tiful and flowing robes of the Arabian 
ladies. It was in this garb that she ap- 



Heroine of the White Nile. 139 

peared in Tunis, wMcli is one of the finest 
cities on the African coast, and is called 
the Paris of the Barbary States. 

She immediately called on the Dutch 
(Consul, and through his servant requested 
an audience. We judge he must have 
been a rather sour and crusty old gentle- 
man, entirely behind the times in the mat- 
ter of allowing the ladies to do what they 
please in the line of novelty and enterprise. 
He sent word that it was not his custom 
to receive Arabian ladies, and refused to 
see her. What he meant was simply this, 
that no Arabian lady would ever be seen 
traveliug through the country or the city 
in that manner, and especially calling on 
government officers; and as she had chos- 
en to present herself as an Arabian lady, 
he was bound to regard her as he would 
have regarded one of them under the cir- 
cumstances, not worthy of his attention. 



140 Heroine of the White Nile. 

Miss Tinne was not to be bluffed off in 
this way, and sent a second request for 
permission to see the official representative 
of her government. She at last conquered 
an audience, but the ill-natured Consul 
said to her, "Miss, when the Dutch gov- 
ernment gave you letters of recommenda- 
tion to me, I felt assured that I might ex- 
pect to meet a respectable lady, and now 
what must I behold % A Bedouin ! " 
And thus the Consul, in no flattering 
terms, continued to decline to be her guide 
through Tunis unless she would put on a 
European dress; this she refused to do, 
and immediately left the city. As an 
Arabian lady, she could not have passed 
through the city without insult, unless 
under consular protection, simply because 
it is not the custom of the country. We 
consider the old Consul a pretty thick- 
headed Dutchman, for having so little 



Heroine of the White Nile. 141 

appreciation of youtli, beauty, and en- 
terprise. 

But Miss Tinne was frequently obliged 
to suffer for her independence as a woman, 
especially in the East, where it is not the 
custom of a lady of rank to leave her 
house unless thickly vailed, and accom- 
panied by a corps of body-guards, in shape 
of a train of black slaves. Her friends 
always blamed her for carrying her aver- 
sion to men so far as to undertake most of 
her journeys without putting herself and 
troop under the protection and command 
of intelligent, learned, and courageous men. 
The results of her extensive wanderings 
thus remain of comparative insignificance, 
considering their vast outlay and great 
danger. 

If, with her wealth, she had always 
associated with her a band of scientific ex- 
plorers, the world would have profited 



142 Heroine of the White Nile. 

mucli more from her expeditions, and have 
given her a much greater meed of praise, 
j, And then the dangers of her journeys 
were greatly increased by the absence of a 
determined and stern ruler, who might 
control and awe the negro train that ac- 
companied her, for her retinue was mostly 
composed of negroes. 

And even many of these were the worst 
that she could have selected for her expe- 
dition, for they were such as had, from 
childhood up, been accustomed to an easy, 
lazy life, and had lived in Egypt, Tripoli, 
Algiers, and other half-civilized countries, 
and had thus lost all their warlike quali- 
ties, if they indeed ever possessed these 
necessary qualifications for such an expedi- 
tion as she was planning. 

This, then, seems to have been the great 
mistake of this final undertaking, that she 
did not commit the control of her servants 



Heroine of the White Nile. 143 

to a sort of military commander, and did 
not secui'e a more efficient set of negroes 
that might have defended her in case of 
attack. For she was undertaking the most 
dangerous task of her life, and too confi- 
dently trusting her life and fortunes to some 
of the most savage and notorious of the 
cruel tribes of the trackless Sahara, many 
of whom go, like the Egyptian women, 
with their faces always covered, that they 
may not be discovered in their crimes. 

She endeavored to secure the services of 
Rohlfs, the great explorer of this region, 
to accompany her as scientific guide and 
assistant, he having just returned from 
Bornou, after a brilliant though perilous 
tour, with presents for the King of Prussia. 
But just at this period commenced the 
war between the English and the King of 
Abyssinia, and the Prussian monarch had 
authorized EohJfs to accompany the En- 



144 Heroine of the White Nile. 

glish troops as his convoy, witli a view of 
gaining all the information possible about 
this romantic land. Rohlfs was, therefore, 
obliged to decline the offer of Miss Tinne, 
and this circumstance probably cost her 
her life, for his presence, courage, and ex- 
perience might have rescued her from 
the treachery that brought her to an un- 
timely end. 

Alone and unaided she, therefore, pro- 
ceeded to fit out her expedition in Tripoli, 
the port on the Mediterranean where she 
could most easily obtain supplies for an 
undertaking of such magnitude. She gath- 
ered a caravan of fifty persons and seventy 
camels, and with these she proposed to 
proceed first to Mourzook, the capital of 
Fezzan, and thence to Bornou. There 
would be no very marked dangers or 
troubles thus far, but this was by no 
means the end. 



Heroine of the White Nile. 145 

The plans of Miss Tinne were far more 
venturesome and magnificent than this. 
She proposed, after reaching the famous 
Lake Tchad, about which so much has been 
written, not to return by the same route, 
but to proceed to the East, through Cen- 
tral Africa, passing over Waday, Darfor, 
and Cordofan, and thus reach the White 
Nile again. Had she succeeded in accom- 
plishing this daring undertaking her name 
would, for all time, have held the first 
rank among African travelers, for no Eu- 
ropean had up to that time been able to 
perform that feat. Vogel and Beurmann 
had lost their lives in merely attempting 
it, and other explorers, starting from the 
east to pass over Darfur and Waday, had 
been obliged to stand still at the n^v^ 
threshold of this realm. 




CHAPTER XV. 



THE FATAL JOUENEY. 

WITH higli hopes and flattering pros- 
pects, a numerous caravan collected 
in Tripoli on the morning of January 
twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty- 
nine. Fifty persons and seventy camels 
had been engaged by this heroic adven- 
turess, and her retinue consisted almost 
wholly of Arabs and Negroes; some of 
the latter she had brought with her from 
the region of the White Nile. 

She had but three European attendants, 
two Dutch sailors, to whom she had be- 
come attached while they were serving 
during her cruises in the Mediterranean, 



Heroine of the White Nile, 147 

and the young German student of whom 
we have previously spoken. Fortunately, 
a favorite dog died while under his care, 
and Miss Tinne felt that this was an op- 
portunity to get rid of him. He was sent 
back, and may thank the dog that he is 
now alive. 

The great caravan made but slow prog- 
ress, and did not reach the first stopping- 
place in Fezzan until about the first of 
March. Here they made quite a long talt 
before entering the stony desert that ex- 
tends from that point to Mourzook. Trav- 
eling thus slowly, her fame preceded her. 
Far and near these savage Arabs heard of 
the rich Sultan's daughter. Every-where 
she was greeted as Banher-Hey^ the daugh- 
ter of the King ; every-where they talked 
of her colossal wealth, and with greedy eyes 
gazed at her immense baggage-train, which 
they thought heavy with hidden gold. 



148 Heroine of the White Nile. 

Having arrived in Mourzook, the well- 
known oasis city in Fezzan, Miss Tinne 
was attacked by a serious illness, that de- 
tained her for some time. After her re- 
covery she made an arrangement with a 
chief of the Tawarek tribe, named Ichnu- 
chen, living beyond the Turkish territory, 
at Ghat. She proposed spending the sum- 
mer in his domains, living in a tent, with 
a view of recovering her strength fully, 
and waiting for the rich presents which 
she had ordered for the Sultan of Bornon, 
and which were to be sent to her from 
Tripoli. 

This chief seemed to be honest; he 
cheerfully promised his protection, and 
offered to send her an escort to bring her 
from Mourzook. 

She had a personal interview with this 
chief of the desert, some distance south of 
Mourzook, and a friendly alliance was 



Heroine of the White Nile. 149 

formed between them, he treating her as 
the chief of her band. But he was just at 
this moment engaged in a campaign against 
some rebellious tribes, and could not, as 
she desired, accompany her to Grhat. She 
therefore returned to Mourzook and waited 
for an escort. 

But, instead of one, there appeared two 
escorts, both led by chiefs that were tribu- 
tary to Ichnuchen. Only one of these was 
the real envoy from Ghat, the other as- 
sumed to be. The deceiver, however, was 
the more cunning, and induced Miss Tinne 
to place herself under his protection. He 
had set a trap for her, and she had unfor- 
tunately fallen into it. A Sheik in Mour- 
zook wrote to Tripoli, "Her foreordained 
fate drew her into this abyss," in an ac- 
count of all the particulars, that he sent to 
that city, of her brutal murder. These 

Turks are nearly all fatalists ; they believe 
10 



150 Heroine of the White Nile. 

til at whatever is to be, will be, and do 
what we will, we cannot avoid a fate that 
is foreordained to us. 

The false chief was an enemy of Ich- 
nnchen, and desired to revenge himself; 
he thought he could do it in no more 
practical way than to murder his Mend 
and alty. But he, doubtless, at the same 
time looked forward to robbing the rich 
caravan, and stealing and selling all the 
negroes in Miss Tinne's train; this would 
be a rich revenge and a profitable business 
operation. In his band were some fugi- 
tive Arabians from Tripoli, who had left 
there on account of their crimes, and were 
supporting themselves in the desert from 
robbery. A little band of ^% or six 
seemed to have planned the murder, and 
the false chief consented to it for a portion 
of the plunder. About the middle of 
July the ill-fated lady started with the 



Heroine of the White Nile. 151 

traitors for Ghat. In a few days she 
reached a halting station south-west of 
Mourzook, and here the terrible event 
occurred. 

Without anxiety, suspicious of no evil, 
firmly believing in the ultimate success of 
her journey, and full of lofty ideas con- 
cerning the fature, she entered the terri- 
tory of the Tawareks, v^hose friendly chief 
she expected soon to meet. The foul deed 
was accomplished on the morning after her 
arrival at this station. 

As the camel-drivers were loading up 
the camels for the journey of the day a 
quarrel arose among them, and the Dutch 
sailors hastened out to put a stop to it, 
but unfortunately without their arms. At 
this moment Miss Tinne was standing in 
the door of her tent with the Tawarek 
chief, whom she had strangely enough 
favored with her confidence, and had just 



152 Heroine of the White Nile. 

invited him to inspect the wonders and 
curiosities of her camp. She stepped for- 
ward for a moment to inquire after the 
cause of the trouble, and assist in allaying 
it, when she was instantly struck down 
from behind with the blow of a sword. 

She had received two wounds; first, a 
saber-blow on the right hand, that com- 
pletely separated it from the body, and 
then a musket-shot through the breast. 
The former was doubtless given to pre- 
vent her from using her revolver, acd 
by the faithless chief behind her. The 
shot was fired by one of the treacherous 
Arabs. At her cries for assistance her 
Dutch servants hastened to her side, 
but they were also murdered; one was 
shot, and the other pierced through by 
a lance. 

The Tawareks now fell upon the iron 
water-chests, believing that these contained 



Herome of the White Nile. 1 53 

er great treasures, and thus robbery was, 
QO doubt, the main impulse to the terrible 
deed. Her faithful negroes, who clung to 
her with ardent attachment, were power- 
less in the hour of danger, and in the 
presence of these wild Arabs. They were 
immediately seized, manacled, and led 
away to be sold as slaves. But a few of 
her band escaped. These made their way 
to Mourzook to inform the Turkish author- 
ities of the terrible crime. These Sheiks 
took measures immediately to pursue the 
murderers, obtain what they could of the 
remnant of Miss Tinne's effects, and bury 
her body. 

In this they were partially successful. 
They caught some of the murderers, recov- 
ered a part of her property, and also a 
young negress, named Jasmina. For a 
time the Turks were inclined to suspect 
and punish the principal chief, Ichnuchen, 



154 Heroine of the White Nile. 

with whom Miss Tinne formed the alliance 
to go to his territory, and under whose 
protection she had placed herself. But he 
proved that he had no sort of connection 
with the escort that betrayed the unfor- 
tunate lady, and he even assisted the 
authorities in pursuing the traitors and 
assassins. 

Thus the lust of gold incited these rob- 
ber-chiefs to cut down in her prime a lady 
who bid fair to devote a long life and a 
boundless fortune to the welfare of Africa. 
She was but thirty years old, and quite 
able by birth and wealth, and personal 
power and accomplishments, to have min- 
gled with the highest ranks of society; but 
the brilliancy and pomp of court life 
seemed to have no charms for her. She 
preferred to wander in the wilds of Africa, 
and brave the dangers of Barbary. Ever 
restless, she seemed only happy when her 



Heroine of the White Nile. 155. 

feet were treading some unknown and dis- 
tant region. 

As a bold traveler, no woman has sur- 
passed her ; in this sphere she towers high 
above all her sisters. Human knowledge 
has been greatly enriched by her investiga- 
tions, and she was just learning how much 
good she might do in this field, when she 
fell a victim to her too trusting confidence. 
But her greatest honor, and the highest 
claim to the esteem of the world, and the 
black race in particular, she gained in her 
restless efforts to unvail the horrors of the 
slave-trade, and expose and punish those 
who live by this nefarious traffic. 

Her large-hearted generosity in carrying 
out her enterprises, and her persistency 
and endurance under the most unfavor- 
able circumstances, insure for her name 
an honorable mention in the history of 
travels and discoveries. In Alexandrine 



156 Heroine of the White Nile. 

Tinne the world has lost a remarkable 
woman, and Africa one of the boldest of 
her pioneers. She has left behind her a 
history strongly illuminated by the halo 
of romance. 




CHAPTER XVI. 



THE WILD TEIBES OF THE DESEET. 

THE heroine's story is finished, and she 
can no longer wander among these 
wild tribes of the desert; but we feel as 
if our story will lose nothing in interest 
by a slight examination of the land and 
the people among whom she was thus 
sadly and cruelly sacrificed. A recent 
journey by Rohlfs, who has done so much 
to open up the mysteries of this land 
and people to the world, and whom Miss 
Tinne would gladly have attached to her 
expedition, gives us some very rare and 
valuable information regarding them. 

Rohlfs in his second journey passed 
through Morocco, across the great Atlas 



158 Heroine of the White Nile. 

chain of mountains and the Desert of Sa- 
hara. His first journey had been one of 
great danger, from which he scarcely re- 
turned alive. These wild Arabs attacked 
him in the Desert, and wounded him se- 
verely; the fearfnl climate, which no Eu- 
ropean can withstand, unless gradually 
accustomed to it by a lengthened sojourn 
in the torrid zone, nearly killed him ; and 
the terrible hardships of a journey across 
the Desert seemed to him almost more 
than the most hardy traveler could sup- 
port. And still he wanted to go, and 
would go a second time; determined, if 
possible, this time to press forward to the 
interior of Soudan. 

But how different were his prepara- 
tions and surroundings from those of Miss 
Tinne ! He was so poor that he could 
scarcely obtain money to go in the hum- 
blest way. He started with but one serv- 



Heroine of the White Nile, 159 

ant and guide from Tangiers in Morocco, 
to go to Ufan, to visit the Grand Scherif. 
Hadj -Absalom, who had shown him much 
kindness formerly, and from whose influ- 
ence he hoped to receive assistance in the 
greatest portion of the territory that he 
desired to explore. 

He had been able to secure good letters 
of recommendation from the English Em- 
bassador in Tangiers, and had with him a 
few presents; these obtained for him a 
favorable reception, and most generous 
treatment during quite a long stay, al- 
though the Scherif well knew that he was 
dealing with a Christian, and a very in- 
quisitive traveler. Having gained the 
good graces of this chief, and received a 
large number of recommendations from 
him to all his friends and subordinate 
chiefs through entire Morocco to Tuat and 
Timbuctoo, Eohlfs started on his perilous 



l6o Heroine of the White Nile. 

journey. Without these protections, to- 
gether with the greatest foresight on his 
part, it would have been impossible for 
him to have traveled through these regions, 
inhabited by the most suspicious, faithless, 
and plundering bands of Arabs. 

The celebrated Dr. Barth, on passing 
through these lands, found his only safety 
in assuming the name of an Arab chief, 
and calling himself Abd-el-Hirim. And 
thus Kohlfs took the name .Mustapha, and 
pretended to be a descendant of Moham- 
med's uncle. These cheating assumptions 
seem to be so common there that one needs 
only a sort of brazen courage to carry it 
out. Eohlfs once had a hearty laugh on 
meeting with a chieftain who pretended to 
be of the same noble descent, and solemnly 
acknowledged him as a veritable cousin. 

This system of deception is by no means 
a pleasant feature of the case, and one 



Heroine of the White Nile. i6i 

whicli we would rather not have to record ; 
but the explorer says that he found it was 
this or nothing, and felt himself obliged to 
adopt the fashion of the country if he de- 
sired to see it ; just as the celebrated Ger- 
man missionary, Father Hue, many years 
ago traveled through China disguised, at 
least, as a native Chinaman, because he 
would in no other way have been allowed 
to pursue his journey. 

Sometimes he passed as the relative of 
his friend, the Scherif, and, as this latter 
was almost worshiped as a saint, our trav- 
eler got along very well. Man-worship 
seems to be nowhere greater than among 
these tribes. The Berbers can scarcely 
understand Arabic, and cannot read the 
Koran ; they care but little about Moham- 
medan ceremonies, do not wash before 
prayers, and obtain representatives to per- 
form the various fasts for them; and they 



1 62 Heroijie of the White Nile. 

revere almost as their own saints the family 
of the Scherif, and call him their Sheik, 
or Euler. 

At times a gang of robbers would be 
just on the point of pouncing on Ms bag- 
gage, when he would declare it to be the 
property of the Scherif, or under his pro- 
tection; the worst of thieves would then 
fall down and kiss and worship it, and 
seek by touching the articles to draw a 
blessing from them for sick and well. 

Sometimes they forced him to act as 
Sheik himself, and insisted that he should 
cure them by spitting on them, or permit- 
ting them to touch him. He was often 
obliged to make charms for them to wear 
or drive the evil spirit out of their houses. 
In one case this latter power was killing 
all the sheep and goats. When they wished 
him to intervene, he recommended them to 
tear up some rotten floors and substitute 



Heroine of the White Nile. 163 

good ones, and then wrote a proverb over 
their door — this seemed to satisfy them. 

In nearly all Africa the natives insist 
that intelligent Europeans are physicians, 
and fairly waylay them for medical assist- 
ance. A party recently ascending the Nile 
in a private boat were overtaken by the 
messengers of a certain chief, who insisted 
on their returning to cure him. It was 
in vain that the gentleman said again 
and again that they knew nothing about 
the business of curing sick people; they 
were fairly forced to put back and stop 
for the night, and were received and treat- 
ed like kings for the very ordinary and 
common-sense advice that they were able 
to give. 

And thus Kohlfs was made a doctor in 
spite of himself; in nearly all the towns 
and villages where he stopped, the sick 
were brought to him in great numbers. 



164 Heroine of the White Nile. 

The old people always wanted very harsli 
treatment ; nothing would suit them short 
of bleeding by cups, or a torturing by 
strong plasters that would draw great 
water-blisters, like Spanish-fly ointment. 
Muley-Ishmael, the chief of one of these 
towns, swore by the beard of the Prophet 
that Rohlfs must be the private physician 
of the Sultan of all the Faithful, because 
no other doctor ever had a salve so power- 
ful that it would draw water out of the 
body wherever it was placed. 

He was most frequently called on to 
cure diseases of the eyes, and for this pur- 
pose was sometimes taken into the most 
secret and retired portions of their houses 
to treat their wives, whom no stranger is 
ordinarily allowed to look upon. All over 
Africa the disease of the eyes is very com- 
mon, on account of the drifting sand, and 
the uncleanliness regarding them. And 



Heroine of the White Nile. 165 

many of their diseases are so clearly tlie 

result of neglect and superstition that any 

man of sense can give them much useful 

advice, so that they willingly bestow on 

him the title of doctor. 

But Rohlfs found the whole of these 

Moslems most deceitful and unreliable ; an 

oath was not of the slightest import in a 

bargain ; they would swear by the Prophet 

one moment, and the very next break all 

their promises* and begin to rob, plunder, 

and murder. Of one of these tribes it had 

become a saying that they would rob and 

murder God and the Prophet themselves 

if these should appear in person among 

them. Their morals are also in a very 

low state; as Mohammedans they were 

permitted to have a house full of wives if 

they could support them ; but the most of 

them, being too poor to do this, would turn 

off one wife as soon as they found the 
11 



1 66 Heroine of the White Nile. 

slightest pretext to get rid of her, and 
then take another. And thus their towns 
were full of forsaken wives. 

They bury their dead without a coffin, 
and make a fearful howling at the grave, 
which Rohlfs considered all put on for 
effect or display. They are also extremely 
intolerant toward those of a different re- 
ligious belief from themselves, and it is 
most wise not to get into a discussion with 
them about the matter, for the}^ are always 
anxious for a strife of this kind, and have 
but one answer to all objections, "Thus 
it stands in the Koran," a book that they 
affirm was written by God's own hand for 
their Prophet, Mohammed. Even in Al- 
giers the Moslems think that the surest 
way to gain Paradise is to kill a Christian, 
and were it not for the fear of the laws 
they would frequently do this. 



CHAPTEE XVn. 

OTEE THE MOUNTAINS TO THE DESEET. 



w 



E have dwelt some time on tlie 
character of these tribes, to make 
more clear tlie great difficulties to be en- 
countered in traveling among them, and to 
be able to appreciate what Miss Tinne 
proposed to encounter had her life been 
spared. We shall now go with Rohlfs 
through his bold journey, and look at the 
principal deeds that he performed, and 
some of the dangers and trials that he 
encountered. 

Early in May Eohlfs started for the 
Atlas Mountains, and was ever careful on 
the ascent to watch against the robber 
hordes that infest these heights. His ob- 



1 68 Heroine of the White Nile. 

ject was to learn the character of these 
comparatively unknown highlands, and 
come through a pass to the plains on the 
southern side. He describes nature as 
magnificent in the extreme, and speaks 
especially of the vast difference between the 
intolerable heat of the lowland and the 
unexpected cold of these higher regions. 

He found the vegetable world on the 
ascent much more familiar and home-like 
than he had expected. There were first 
mighty forests with larch, trees nearly ^nq 
feet in diameter, then iron oaks and thistle- 
trees, and finally the lignum vitse and 
juniper. On the ground he found butter- 
cups. May lilies, and Alpine roses, so that 
one could easily imagine one's self to be in 
Switzerland. On the lofty plains, or table- 
lands, that he passed over were growing 
barley and Turkish wheat. On the thir- 
teenth of May they perceived the snowy 



Heroine, of the White Nile. 169 

summit of the Atlas, and on the twentieth 
they reached the very crest, having passed 
a beautiful mountain lake enlivened by 
swarms of ducks. Here, in the highlands, 
they first saw the villages surrounded by 
tall and strong hedges made out of the 
trunks of trees, as a protection against 
the numerous lions. Eohlfs is supposed 
to be the first explorer who crossed the 
Atlas chain in this region. He reported 
it as mostly composed of sandstone on 
the northern, and granite on the southern 
declivity. 

On making the descent he came down 
into the beautiful valley of the Grer Eiver, 
which he declares a rival of Italy in the 
luxuriance of its vegetation and natural 
productions. They traveled through nar- 
row gorges whose sides rose ^y^ hundred 
feet in rocky walls above the stream. But 
the well-built roads and convenient bridges 



I/O Heroine of the White Nile, 

of Switzerland were absent, and it was 
often necessary to ride or swim over streams, 
where they encountered many mishaps on 
account of the rapidity of these mountain 
torrents. 

At last they reached the border of the 
desert, and saw the tirst date-trees. And, 
still on their horses, they passed several 
small oases, and arrived, on the first of 
July, after many dangers from the sirocco 
and the robbers, safely at Abuam, the 
capital of the Oasis of Tafiles. 

This city of the oasis he describes in 
very genial terms. Abuam is the central 
trading point for the whole desert. The 
wares of Algiers and Morocco, the prod- 
ucts of Tawat and those of Soudan, all 
meet here. There can be no more vari- 
egated or animated scene than the picture 
presented by the fair or market held here 
three times a week. As wood is scarce, all 



Heroine of the White Nile. 171 

the booths, as, indeed, all the houses of the 
villages, are made of clay, so that they look 
like great mole-hills. And, as in all cities 
of Morocco, these booths form streets, and 
each street has its special trade. 

Merchants from Fez have exclusive pos- 
session of the streets for cloth, cotton, and 
silk goods ; other streets contain the oil, 
butter, and soap shops; and thus the 
dealers in weapons and clothes have theirs, 
and so on to the end of the catalogue. 
Some passages are exclusively devoted to 
French and English goods, of which there 
is a large assortment. Vegetables, fruit, 
salt, cattle, etc., are found crowded together 
in other places. The dates of Tafilet are 
considered the best of the entire desert, 
and are sent to all points. Then ostrich 
feathers, gold-dust, and slaves, are brought 
to this market from Soudan. 

The inhabitants of this region are the 



172 Heroine of the White Nile, 

most fanatical of Mohammedans, and fairly 
annoyed Rohlfs in the desire to know 
whether he was a genuine Moslem in all 
respects. Near their city they have raised 
monuments to the founder of the dynasty 
of Morocco, and also to some of the most 
celebrated of their saints, and to these 
shrines pilgrimages are made from all 
directions. 

At this point Rohlfs prepared himself 
for his journey across the desert. He hired 
two camels from the owner of a caravan, 
who afterward cheated him in the most 
contemptible way. Having provided him- 
self with water and provisions for a ten 
days' journey, he started in the early part 
of July. And now, for a moment, com- 
pare his simple and humble preparations 
with those of Miss Tinne : simply himself 
and servant, and only two camels to carry 
the absolute necessaries of life : and with 



Heroine of the White Nile, 173 

these ha boldly enters the dangerous and 
inhospitable desert. 

He found the heat intolerable, even 
worse than he had expected; and their 
thirst, in the broiling sun, was so great 
that each of them drank more than ten 
quarts of water per day. The camels were 
loaded with the baggage, they, therefore, 
were obliged to walk; and although they 
became somewhat accustomed to the heat, 
they sometimes almost sank down from 
exhaustion and fatigue. They lost a good 
deal of flesh in the journey, but at last 
safely passed the first sandy region that 
extends to the south, and arrived at the 
oasis city of Karfas toward the end of 
July. 

These portions of the desert are not en- 
tirely destitute of water nor vegetation. 
But the terribly monotonous plain is but 
seldom enlivened by a visible water-course. 



1/4 Heroine of the White Nile. 

There are, however, not a few streams that 
trickle through the sand below the surface, 
slowly following a steady and regular 
course, like those visible on the surface. 
Above these hidden streams one can easily 
dig a well and reach water without pene- 
trating very deep. Many of these wells 
remain, and are covered with a stone, as 
well as surrounded by palm-trees, but not 
unfrequently the water is saltish and bit- 
ter. The banks of these streams, which .are 
often visible in winter and disappear in 
summer, are often planted with rows of 
palms. 

The (iate-palm among trees is to the 
Arab what the camel is among beasts; 
that alone renders life possible even in 
these oases. These poor tribes of the 
desert seldom taste meat, and are rarely 
able to eat enough to satisfy their hunger ; 
many of them live almost exclusively on 



Heroine of the White Nile. 175 

elates. A story is told of one of these 
cMldren of tlie sand, who, on Ms journey, 
was almost famished for want of food ; at 
last he approached a green spot, and dis- 
covered lying there a large sack, appar- 
ently left by some wanderer who found 
it too heavy for his beast. " Ah ! " said 
the hungry man, " God be thanked ; there 
is a sack of dates ! how will I refresh my- 
self with them, and gather strength for my 
journey!" He rushed up to the sack, 
hastily opened it, gazed a moment, and 
then sank fainting to the earth, exclaiming, 
" Alas ! they are only pearls ! " 

Pearls and precious stones are of little 
value to those fainting for want of food, 
and the date is more precious on the desert 
than would be multitudes of jewels and 
piles of gold* And the only condition on 
which it will consent to thrive is water. 
Wherever this precious element is present 



176 Heroine of the White Nile, 

date-trees may be planted. Where there 
are copious springs and wells, there, in the 
midst of the desert, will thrive and bloom 
the most beautiful date-gardens, in whose 
shade will also grow various tropical vege- 
tables. In some places, where there is 
always moisture far below the surface of 
the ground, a deep well is dug, and the 
date-tree is planted in this, so that one sees 
the strange sight of the summit of a palm- 
tree peering forth from the bosom of the 
earth. The natives take, therefore, great 
care of the palm-tree in the season of the 
blossoms to secure their fruitfulness, and 
gather two crops a year, one in May, and 
another in September. 

It is consequently considered a great 
crime to Mil a date-tree; even in the con- 
tinued wars that the inhabitants of the 
desert are ever waging against each other, 
the date-tree is always spared. An enemy 



Heroine of the White Nile. 177 

will destroy the streams if possible, will 
cut them off or fill up the wells, but he 
never cuts down the date- tree. 

Abd-el-Kader was one of the wildest of 
the desert chiefs, whose fame was sung 
in many a ballad, for he was an indomi- 
table warrior, and a terror to his enemies. 
While he was yet a youth a certain hostile 
tribe murdered his father; against these 
cruel enemies Abd-el-Kader performed his 
first deeds of heroic valor; he was so ex- 
asperated at them that he destroyed all 
the palm-trees in their domains. Rohlfs 
became acquainted with him, and spent 
several months under his hospitable pro- 
tection. As an old man, he spent his days 
in peace, and employed all his time in 
planting new gardens, in the hope of thus 
partially atoning for that great crime of his 
youth. He always prayed to God to for- 
give him for thus cutting down the palm- 



178 Heroine of the White Nile. 

trees, wMcli tlie Mussulmans consider so 
great a crime. 

One day he was relating his warlike 
deeds to Eohlfs, when he suddenly stopped 
and said: "Was I right in cutting down 
my enemies' trees?" "No," was the re- 
ply, "for here, in the desert, the palm 
is the sole support of man." This an- 
swer pleased him, for the voice within 
him had often told him that in this he 
had done wrong, although, hitherto, all his 
subjects, and even his priests, had tried 
to make him believe that his deed was 
justifiable. 

Next to the date-tree in value is the 
camel, and this useful beast even adds 
largely to the value of the tree, by ena- 
bling the natives to reach the plantations 
in the season when attention is required to 
the blossoms. The date is never a perfect 
tree ; that is, it cannot bear fruit unless its 



Heroine of the White Nile, 179 

blossoms are fertilized by contact with the 
blossoms of other trees. These different 
kinds are easily distinguished by the na- 
tives, as they are well known, and, there- 
fore, in the blossoming season they need 
to hurry to the different date-gardens to 
fructny the trees by the contact of blos- 
soms of the opposite kind. 

Now our readers may, perhaps, suppose 
that hurry is not the word to use in speak- 
ing of the camel, and it is true that he 
cannot surpass the horse in speed on a 
short journey. But what he lacks in 
speed, he makes up in endurance ; he will 
out-travel the horse in a long journey, and 
is even used to run down the swift-footed 
ostrich. Camels will chase the ostrich till 
these birds fall down dead. Therefore the 
children of the desert prize the camels 
above all gifts, and bestow on them the 
greatest care and study. The Bedouin 



i8o Heroine of the White Nile. 

knows the tracks of bis own camels, and 
will distinguish the male and female camel 
by the diflPerence of the tracks in the sand, 
as he will even tell the age of a beast by 
the smell. 





CHAPTEE XVIII. 

INTO THE DESEET AOT) OUT AGAEN". 

ABOUT the last of July EoHfs plunged 
into the barren desert, following the 
dry bed of a river that led him through a 
large province of Morocco called Tawat. 
This immense waste is so poor and bar- 
ren that its inhabitants can scarcely find 
enough to support life, and are conse- 
quently extremely unreliable and thievish. 
He stopped for a short time only at the 
Oases of Tennay and Tamentit. This Ta- 
mentit is a city of six thousand inhabit- 
ants, and has one temple and six mosques. 
This temple contains a very sacred relic 
in the form of a stone, that is said to have 
fallen from heayen; it was of silver when 

12 



1 82 Heroine of the White Nile, 

it came down, and, as the story goes, turned 
into iron. Of course this is a capital stone 
for the Mohammedans of the region to 
make a pilgrimage to, for it seems to them 
like the black stoDe at Mecca, on which 
they say that Abraham was preparing to 
slaughter Isaac. And Eohlfs here corrects 
a very prevalent error regarding the fa- 
mous black stone of Mecca. It is generally 
supposed that Mohammed ordered pil- 
grimages to be made to this sacred relic, 
but it appears that these were instituted 
before his time, and that he merely al- 
lowed them to be continued under his 
sanction. 

The principal product of this land of 
Tawat is also dates, of which there are 
said to be as many different varieties as 
we find among our apples; but there are 
also many other kinds of fruits. The in- 
habitants are peaceable, but much given to 



Heroine of the White Nile. 183 

the use of opium ; they do not drink strong 
liquors, but this opium ruins them about 
as much as rum would. 

Again the traveler crossed another fear- 
fully barren desert, and journeyed toward 
Ain Salah, the capital of this realm, where 
he found the afore-mentioned Bedouin chief, 
Abd-el-Kader, who accorded him a kind 
reception. This was a great boon to him, 
for his money began to melt away, and 
this, with many other mishaps, proved to 
him that he could not continue the jour- 
ney to Timbuctoo, as he had projected. 
He therefore stayed with his powerful 
friend until the end of October, and saw 
the swallows arrive from Europe, which 
pass their winters in this milder climate. 
He also had the opportunity of here seeing 
and admiring the fat or "thick women." 
The fattest women are here considered the 
prettiest, and measures are therefore taken 



184 Heroine of the White Nile. 

when they are quite young to make them 
grow enormously large, and this great cor- 
pulency they mostly owe to a very gener- 
ous supply of camel's milk and butter. 

About the beginning of November 
Kohlfs found a caravan preparing to leave 
for Tripoli, and he resolved to bid good-bye 
to Abd-el-Kader, and join it on his return 
journey to his home. They passed through 
a long sandy waste, in the land of the fierce 
Tawareks, and suffered both from hunger 
and thirst. For awhile they were obliged 
to live on locusts, that sometimes fly in such 
swarms that they darken the air. These 
are a species of grasshopper, that come at 
times in such multitudes that they devour 
every living thing like plant or vegetable, 
and then invade tents and even houses. 
Fortunately, they may in turn be eaten 
in case of need, although they are no great 
delicacy. Of John the Baptist it is said 



Heroine of the White Nile. 185 

that his food was locusts and wild honey, 
while he was in the wilderness. 

Sometimes they are dried, then ground 
fine and mixed with fl.our, and made into 
cakes and baked; or they are simply salt- 
ed, as we salt mackerel, and then eaten; 
or they are smoked like herring, or boiled, 
or roasted, or stewed, or fried in butter. 
Thus you see there are many ways of pre- 
paring them to tickle the palate. Rohlfs 
pulled off their wings, took out their in- 
sides, and then sprinkled them with pep- 
per and salt. In this form they tasted so 
good to him that he recommends French 
cooks to put them in their bill of fare, and 
they would doubtless look quite as well 
there as frogs and snails. 

About the end of November the caravan 
arrived in the old town of Ghadames, 
which was founded by the ancient Romans, 
and contains a great many Roman antiqui- 



1 86 Heroine of the White Nile. 

ties. It is now a very celebrated trading 
mart within the realms of Tripoli, and is 
connected by good roads witb that famous 
sea-port on the northern coast. Rohlfs 
examined all the most interesting of the 
Roman ruins, and then made his way 
safely to Tripoli, where he arrived about 
Christmas, and soon informed his anxious 
friends in Europe of his safe return to 
civilization. 

He had been nine months a wanderer in 
these lands, where he was only safe so long 
as he bought the favor of influential per- 
sons by valuable presents, or obtained it, as 
he did several times, through some special 
favor. He was shamefully imposed upon, 
whenever they could do so, and they would 
have robbed him of every penny, if he had 
not been as skillful in guarding his pennies 
. as they were in obtaining them. He per- 
formed all this journey at an expense of 



Heroine of the White Nile. 187 

about one thousand dollars, and came back 
greatly disappointed that he could not 
reach Timbuctoo. 

We are much indebted to him for a 
great deal of accurate and useful knowl- 
edge regarding the oasis-cities of Tawat, 
and especially for his reports about the 
oases of Tidikelt and Ain Salah. His in- 
vestigations about the commercial roads 
and trading relations of these people are 
very valuable, as are also his descriptions 
of their national character. The science 
of geography has been much enhanced by 
his accounts of these almost unknown 
lands, and he has enriched the maps of 
Northern Africa with some names and 
routes that have not hitherto been found 
on it. 

It is to be regretted that astronomical 
science has reaped nothing from his jour- 
ney. But if he could have carried instru- 



1 88 Heroine of the White Nile. 

ments with him they would have availed 
him nothing, for it would have been im- 
possible for him to have used them in 
making observations. The suspicions of 
the inhabitants were so great that he was 
obliged to be very careful in the use of his 
thermometer and barometer; with a little 
unguardedness on his part they would 
have declared him a sorcerer, and stoned 
or burned him. He was not even always 
allowed to write down his observations. 
Therefore the natural sciences have not 
gained much by his journey; but what he 
saw with his eyes and heard with his ears 
they could not prevent him from bringing 
away, and with this booty he has made a 
very interesting book. 

Rohlfs subsequently made another jour- 
ney to Bornou, following just the route 
that Miss Tinne proposed to take. He 
returned safely with presents from the 



Heroine of the White Nile. 189 

Sultau to the King of Prussia. The King 
dispatched another traveler to Bornou 
with royal presents in return, having or- 
dered Rohlfs to accompany the x\byssinian 
expedition. 

This explorer, Dr. l^achtigall, has been 
arrested on his way, and is now besieged 
by these very thieves and murderers that 
assaulted Miss Tinne. They learned of 
his valuable presents for the Sultan, and 
thought they would prefer having them 
for themselves. He, finding that he was 
sure to be pursued and robbed, has left 
his royal presents in Mourzook to the very 
doubtful honesty and protection of the 
natives there, and now lays his case before 
the King, and seeks protection. There is 
only one way of managing the affair, and 
that is, to give him brave men enough to 
fight his way through. 

Rohlfs, who has in the meanwhile 



1 90 Heroine of the White Nile. 

retui'ned, now offers to head a fighting 
column to punish these murderers of Miss 
Tinne, assist the Doctor, and rescue the 
presents, and proceed with them to Bor- 
nou. But this requires men and means 
that can only be afforded by the govern- 
ment ; and the question is just now being 
discussed, as to how far this would be feas- 
ible and expedient. Prussian soldiers could 
not land withont the permission of the 
government of Tripoli, and this latter hesi- 
tates to permit foreign soldiers to land on 
its shores to come into contact with tribes 
that are so nearly on its border. 

The scientific men are urging the gov- 
ernment to send the force, and think that 
a few Prussian soldiers, with needle-guns, 
would instill a wholesome respect into 
the Tawareks. Eohlfs says that when he 
was in a similar situation in Mourzook, 
the Governor there laughed at him for 



Heroine of the White Nile. 191 

coming with a couple of servants to make 
the journey to Soudan. He said that the 
greatest trouble by far was from these 
robber tribes, and suggested that with 
about thirty good soldiers he could fight 
his way through, and with fifty even take 
the Sultan himself, who was, every year, 
half frightened to death by the raids of 
these Bedouins into his kingdom, though 
they could never muster more than fifty 
old muskets. These facts show us the fear- 
ful dangers to which the unsuspecting Miss 
Tinne exposed herself when she trusted 
to the fidelity and love of the Arabs of 
the desert. 




■ 



CHAPTEE XIX. 

A GEAND EXPEDITIOIT. 



WITH this chapter our story will 
close, though some of our readers 
may think that it is already told. But as 
we felt that the explorations of Kohlfs 
would be a fitting sequel to the unfinished 
labors of Miss Tinue on the Desert of 
Sahara and in Central Soudan, so we can 
scarcely end our story without a 'brief 
allusion to a grand expedition now in 
progress on the Nile, which, in spirit, is 
carrying out the noble plans that the 
Heroine of Africa dimly conceived and ar- 
dently longed for. 

We have already spoken of the cele- 
brated English explorer of the Nile coun- 



Heroine of the White Nile. 193 

tries, Sir Samuel Baker, and have alluded 
to the fact, that on returning from one of 
his early explorations he met the expedi- 
tion of Miss Tinne, and gave it his hearti- 
est greetings and good wishes as it passed 
up the Nile apparently to conquer the 
countries that he had merely seen. It 
would seem that this campaign of Miss 
Tinne must have inspired him with the 
thought not only of studying Africa, but 
of conquering it for humanity, civilization, 
and religion. And he is now engaged in 
this noble work on a scale that leaves all 
other expeditions far in the background, 
and bids fair to put an end to slavery all 
along the Mle territory, and in its place 
to substitute agriculture and the arts of 
peace, as a means to the happiness of these 
half-civilized negro kingdoms. 

Baker has undertaken a noble though 
a very difficult task. In his celebrated 



194 Heroine of the White Nile. 

work concerning his extensive travels in 
Egypt, he declares that he never met a civil 
officer in the country who did not consider 
the slave-trade a necessary and benevolent 
institution. But he has had a marvelous 
success in convincing the Viceroy and 
ruler of all Egypt to the contrary, and 
gaining his sympathy and support in the 
endeavor to suppress this most cruel traffic 
that human beings ever engaged in. 

And the times have been propitious to 
this great enterprise. The opening of the 
famous canal from the Mediterranean Sea 
across the Isthmus of Suez to the Red Sea 
has sent the influence of Western Europe 
sailing through the desert, and the Vice- 
roy has caught the infection of civilization 
and humanity, and begins to see that it 
will pay far better to develop the land 
after the example of cultivated and Chris- 
tian countries, than to keep such immense 



Heroine of the White Nile. 195 

tracts merely as great hunting grounds for 
slaves. 

He has therefore virtually taken Sir 
Samuel Baker into his employ, and given 
him the authority and the means to go up 
and possess the land in the interest of 
humanity. And the ruler of Egypt pays 
all the costs of this great enterprise, fur- 
nishes Baker with all the necessary men 
and outfit, and gives him unlimited au- 
thority to take the land in the name of 
the Viceroy; and from Gondokoro on the 
White Nile, which we will remember as 
the station that Miss Tinne made such 
efforts to reach, away up to the southern 
end of the newly discovered Albert Ny- 
anza lake, he is to gather all the scat- 
tered tribes and roving hordes in these 
regions, that live mainly from the profits 
of the slave-trade, and gain them over to 
civilization and peaceful pursuits. 



196 Heroine of the White Nile. 

But, you will ask. Low is he to perform 
so great a task — so perilous and difficult 
an undertaking? In an answer to this 
question, we ask you to listen to the story 
of his outfit; it is something unheard of 
in the annals of African exploration. 

Baker has at his disposal a corps of 
nearly two thousand men. A fleet of ten 
steamers and thirty sailing vessels carry 
these up the Nile. The most of these are 
soldiers, many of them are tillers of the 
soil or what we would call farmers, and 
fifty of them are ship-builders, who go to 
build boats, with which to navigate the 
waters of this new lake. He makes his 
grand rendezvous on the river at that 
notorious town to which we devoted the 
chapter headed a " Nest of Villains." This 
center of the slave-trade is now to be used 
as the main post and support of an expedi- 
tion to wipe out the foul blot from Egypt. 



Heroine of the White Nile. 197 

Large amounts of stores of all kinds are 
now being sent to Khartoom ; the steam- 
ers and other vessels are making their way 
up the river. But Sir Samuel Baker him- 
self was too impatient to sail up the slow 
and winding Nile, and he, with his ever 
faithful Avife, some of his principal officers, 
and about seven hundred men, took pas- 
sage at Suez on the Red Sea in steamers, 
and landed at the port of Suakim. Here 
they got up a stupendous caravan and 
crossed the desert on camels, about a hun- 
dred miles to Khartoom, where they ar- 
rived safely long before the expedition 
from below had made its appearance. 

This suggested to Baker the feasibility 
of a railroad from Port Suakim through 
this sandy waste to Khartoom. Think of 
the steam-cars rattling past the caravans, 
astonishing the living ships of the desert 
as they shoot by, and striking terror to the 

13 



198 Heroine of the White Nile. 

heart of the ruffled slave-drivers as they 
urge on their bands of captive slaves to 
the Red Sea, to take them over into 
Arabia and sell them ! Baker argues that 
such a road would soon put an end to this 
route for the slavers, and be a most profit- 
able channel to convey all the rich prod- 
ucts of the Upper Mle — the ivory, the 
cotton, and other treasures of that fertile 
land — to the sea, and thence by steamers 
to the world. 

If he is successful the road will be built, 
and will greatly aid in the development 
of the country, by giving easy access to it, 
and a grand outlet to its resources, which 
will thereby become a thousand times 
more valuable. And this is the lesson 
that Baker desires to teach to the petty 
chieftains in his course, namely, that it will 
pay materially, for this is the only motive 
that will now reach them. The Viceroy of 



Heroine of the White Nile. 199 

Egypt has already learned this lesson, and 
is now eager to have his land furnish him 
money for his treasury, rather than slaves 
for other countries. 

After Khartoom the next main station 
v^ill be Gondokoro, about one hundred 
and fifty geographical miles up the stream. 
From this point all the way up the White 
Nile to Nyanza Lake, and into the inte- 
rior, he will establish posts about eighty 
miles apart. These posts will be governed 
by agents, who v^ill be empowered to deal 
with the natives; and for this purpose 
they will be supplied with all kinds of 
articles which these wild beings enjoy and 
prize, such as beads and trinkets, and 
many other things that will be more useful 
to them. These the traders will exchange 
for the products that the inhabitants can 
bring, especially ivory, honey, wax, and 
hides. 



Mi 



200 Heroine of the White Nile. 

Baker will seize and liberate all the 
slaves that he finds in the hands of their 
oppressors, and give them some fertile spot 
on the river near the posts as their home. 
Each liberated slave is to be provided 
with a certificate on which is written his 
name, the date of his deliverance, and the 
circumstances attending it; this certificate 
is to be the proof to all that he is a free 
man. Then a register of all these liberated 
slaves is to be kept by the agent, and any 
of the traders who are afterward found in 
possession of such negroes will be severely 
punished. 

One great object of the expedition is to 
encourage the raising of cotton, for which 
the climate and soil of Egypt are admira- 
bly adapted, as are also the negroes to the 
labor. The demand for cotton is daily in- 
creasing all over the world, and it is be- 
coming more and more of a necessity all 



Heroine of the White Nile. 201 

the time for all classes of society, the poor 
as well as the rich. Now cotton is dearer 
and scarcer than it need be ; any plan that 
will contribute to render it plenty and 
cheap will be a blessing to all mankind. 
Therefore a great end will be attained if, 
at the same time, the world, can obtain 
cotton of Egypt, and give the negroes a 
certain supply of comforts in exchange for 
the cotton that they can raise at home. 

Therefore these liberated slaves are to 
receive cotton-seed, and farming utensils 
of all kinds, as well as water-wheels to 
draw up the water from the river and irri- 
gate the land in the dry season. They are 
to be taught and controlled by overseers, 
who are to be chosen from among the best 
men of the expedition, w^ho are to be left 
in groups of from four to six at the posts 
along the route. These men are soldiers 
and farmers at the same time, like most of 



202 Heroine of the White Nile. 

the peasant classes of Lower Egypt, and 
can therefore defend themselves, and teach 
the negroes how to do so, while they are 
learning how to till their rich soil. 

The farther they ascend the stream, and 
approach the region of rich soil and gen- 
erous rain, the more easy will it be to 
produce cotton without the severe labor 
required in Lower Egypt, and this will 
probably induce many from that section 
to ascend the stream to" richer regions, and 
thus, by their example and influence, con- 
tribute to spread abroad the useful knowl- 
edge of agriculture to the dwellers on the 
Nile. 

When it is found necessary, military 
colonies will be founded to force the native 
tribes to live at peace with each other, and 
around these colonies large tracts of land 
will be cultivated with grain, to prevent 
the danger of famine from the collection 



Heroine of the White Nile. 203 

of large bodies of tlie natives in one spot 
for protection and oversight. 

The Mle can be navigated with steam- 
ers as far up as Gondokoro. Just above 
this point commence the upper cataracts, 
that continue a long distance, and then the 
river is navigable again as far as the new- 
ly discovered lake, Albert I^yanza. Along 
this unnavigable portion of the stream a 
good road will be constructed, passable for 
camels, horses, and all kinds of wagons. 

The steamers will ascend the river to 
Gondokoro, where they will be taken apart 
and loaded on camels and wagons, and thus 
transported to the navigable waters again. 
This seems like idle talk, but it is not. 
The vessels are all made of iron or steel, 
and are firmly screwed together ; they can 
thus be unscrewed when necessary and 
transported by land; many have already 
V)een thus carried across the desert on 



204 Heroine of the White Nile. 

camels' backs. ISTor are they, for this rea- 
son, toy-boats. Each one measures what 
the seamen call one hundred and fifty 
tons, which makes quite a respectable 
steamer. 

When these have been placed in their na- 
tive element after their land journey, they 
will proceed up the river to Lake Nyanza, 
then into this body of water and all 
around its shores on a voyage of discovery. 
And for bays and places that the steamers 
cannot enter, Baker has steel life-boats and 
other little craft, so that he will be able 
to penetrate all these shores and found 
military and trading settlements where as 
yet the face of a civilized white man has 
never been seen. And lastly, there is a 
small isthmus between this lake and its 
consort, the Victoria Nyanza, and at this 
point the steamers will be again taken 
apart, transported over the land, and 



Heroine of the White Nile. 205 

launched into these waters, that English 
explorers have named after their beloved 
Queen. It is now almost unknown, but a 
few steamers on its surface will soon plow 
over its waters, and open up a host of 
secrets to the civilized world, and its shores 
to the light of civilization and the bless- 
ings of Christianity; for these latter can- 
not lag far behind the enterprises of the 
soldier, the trader, and the tiller of the 
soil. 

Now we may well ask. Is this plain 
common sense, or is it all a foolish dream ? 
For thousands of years men have been try- 
ing to discover these hidden springs of the 
river that waters and fertilizes the sacred 
land of ancient days, and a thousand times 
the effort has been abandoned in despair. 
But now these dark, savage, and cruel 
men, who people those mysterious shores, 
are to be suddenly awakened out of their 



J) 



206 Heroine of the White Nile. 

long sleep, not by degrees, but by the sud- 
den flashes of the brightest light, and the 
noblest triumphs of civilization. 

Think of them gazing on these noble 
structures that seem almost to have the 
spirit of man within them as they walk 
the waters like creatures of life ! See these 
poor, wild, untutored men as they view 
with astonishment all the enticing produc- 
tions of our skill, of the use of which they 
can have no possible conception ! 

The very thought of this is inspiring, 
and we onl}^ hope that the noble Baker 
will be able to realize all his expectations. 
There are many that think he is now 
building castles in the air, that he will see 
dissolve into empty vapor as he proceeds. 
But all good men hope for his full and 
complete success, and applaud his enthusi- 
asm in so good a cause. But should he 
fail, he will at least learn many lessons to 

K D 1 4 



Heroine of the White Nile. 207 

teach the world, so that others at later 
periods may take up his work and lead it 
on to comjDletion. In this age the world 
cannot go backward, and the examples of 
Miss Tinne and Sir Samuel Baker cannot 
be lost on the future. 

And now that this story is told, many 
parts of it may seem like romance ; but it 
is sober truth, and proves the old saying, 
that truth is stranger than fiction, and we 
hope, in this case, it may prove more 
agreeable, as we know it must be more 
profitable than mere tissues of excited 
fancy, or revelings of wayward imagina- 
tions. 




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